


A Gisaeng's Heart

by Mihue (brian_fan_4eva)



Series: Supernatural Temptations [1]
Category: After School, Big Bang (Band), K-pop, Super Junior, Super Junior-M, f(x)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Werewolf, F/M, Gen, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Magic, Multi, Were-Creatures
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-04
Updated: 2014-05-05
Packaged: 2018-01-18 03:21:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 29,011
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1413163
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brian_fan_4eva/pseuds/Mihue
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Things that go bump in the night...they're fairytales right? That's what they want people to think so no one goes out after dark. Many people would panic at the mere sight of the urban legends jumping out in front of them in broad daylight, but they wander the streets, and look just as normal as any other human out there.</p><p>For several young people, their world is in danger of being exposed as Japan seeks to claim control of Korea as a territory to Japan in the late 19th century. Magical forces that they can not comprehend seek to control them, but when a magic spell being cast goes horribly wrong, they are thrust into the 21st century where they have to adapt and change to fit into the new world they've been thrust into without warning, or a way back.</p><p>*crossposted on AFF</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Welcome to Hanyang

_Joseon Dynasty: Hanyang (modern day Seoul, S Korea)_

“Young master, please don’t go!” A woman in a bright purple and light pink hanbok begged as she held onto the arm of a man in a dark blue colored hanbok. It was unsightly for the gisaeng to be running, especially after a yangban and in her own gisaeng house at that. Master Howie would be furious to find out his best gisaeng had offended Lee Donghae, the son of the Minister of Justice, who just happened to be one of their best customers.

“Why should I stay when you insult me with your petty jokes?” Donghae snapped, tying the ribbon on his gat.

“Young master I am sorry!” The gisaeng winced as she felt a tug as the bottom of her chima caught under her foot. It hadn’t been tied tightly enough over her chest earlier when she’d been called unexpectedly to entertain the young master and was now slowly loosening and slipping down.

“Jooyeon!” The soft stern voice of the gisaeng house mother called out. The gisaeng cringed hearing her name being called. Anyone not employed or owned by the house would only hear the woman calling out nicely, but Lee Jooyeon could hear the icy fury disguised in the house mother’s voice.

“Young master, please!” Jooyeon pleaded desperately, feeling her hand slipping from his arm.

“Get off me woman!” Donghae snapped, brushing her hands off his arm.

Jooyeon stopped as her hands were pushed off Donghae’s arm. The house mother strode up, a benevolent smile on her face. Jooyeon could tell the house mother was furiously angry at her from the tight expression around the house mother’s eyes. “Young master, I will have her whipped for her insolence if you command it.” Jung Krystal bowed low to Donghae. “I apologize for having such an insolent woman in my house.”

Donghae sighed as he stopped. The issue was quickly getting out of hand and he didn’t need any more scandals. His father had already threatened him with marriage if he had yet another scandal at the gisaeng house. Donghae gazed upon Krystal with indifference. “No, it’s enough she knows that she was out of line.” He said, letting some of the anger out of his voice. “However, I do not wish to see her the next time I come in for some entertainment.” He said, sparing a glance backwards as if the gisaeng was an afterthought.

Jooyeon felt her heart contract as Krystal bowed even lower towards the ground. “Yes, Young master. You will not see her again.”

Donghae nodded as he walked past the women and servants who all bowed low to him. His cousin and servant, Lee Seunghyun, nicknamed Seungri, waited outside the gisaeng house with his horse and sword. A yangban had to be careful in the middle of the city even if it was the capital where the King of Joseon held court. Seungri held out Donghae’s sword as he bowed. “Young master, I trust you had a good time?” Seungri asked as he helped Donghae up onto his horse.

Donghae waited until Seungri was up on his own horse before replying. “I think I’ve been coming here too often.” He said, flicking the reins on his horse to signal a walk. “Maybe father is right.”

Seungri followed suit with his own horse. “Right about what, Young master?” He asked, feigning concern. It wasn’t that he didn’t care about his cousin, but he felt the overbearing heavy weight of obligation on his shoulders that caused him to act as if he overly cared. His family was a branch family of the Lee’s, and had protected the main family for 3 generations since coming into nobility. Seungri didn’t covet the life that Donghae led, seeing first-hand what the heir to the Lee nobility had to go through each day, but he also hated the fact he’d been the one chosen for Dong-hae’s personal guard. Seungri had been hoping to avoid the duty, but unfortunately he’d ended up being the only male out of the branch families close enough in age to Donghae.

“Maybe I should think about getting married instead of visiting the gisaeng house whenever I want to be entertained.” Donghae replied.

Seungri smirked. So the Minister’s threat to Donghae hadn’t fallen on deaf ears. Seungri had been right to tell his father to bribe some of the girls at the gisaeng house into goading Jooyeon into making fun of Donghae. The Minster was already in talks with the Minister of War to wed Donghae to his eldest daughter, Choi Sulli. Donghae would not be happy at the news, especially since Sulli’s brother Choi Seunghyun had once made fun of Seungri’s name being the same as his, and therefore the Lee family was just copying the Choi family because they were newer nobility and didn’t know how to act.

As Donghae rode his horse along the path toward his home, he took note of Seungri’s silence. He knew beside the 4 year age difference between them, that Seungri was not happy to have been the one chosen to become his personal guard. He thought it was silly that a member of the branch family had to be chosen to protect him, especially when there hadn’t been a serious threat to the Lee family since his father was a young man.

Donghae’s horse suddenly reared and whinnied as something unknown darted across his path. “Whoa!” He held on tightly with his knees to the saddle, one hand on the reins, the other tangled in the horse’s mane.

Another horse bolted in front of his vision, the saddle empty as Donghae felt his horse tensing. “Seungri!” He kept a tight control on the horse’s reins as he frantically looked behind him. His horse trembled under the control Donghae had over it, but did not rear or bolt like his cousin’s horse had.

Donghae’s eyes widened as he spotted Seungri’s unconscious body lying in a heap where his horse had dumped him. Seungri had never been extremely adept at controlling horses. Donghae made the decision to dismount, not worried that his horse would bolt. Whatever had darted across their path was gone. Donghae jumped down, calling for help as he ran over to Seungri. He knew this close to the gisaeng house, there would be some city guards around, hoping to get glimpses of the young courtesans as various nobility and servants moved in and out of the busy house.

A moan greeted Donghae’s ears as he crouched low to Seungri’s form. The younger man was starting to stir, which gave Donghae some relief but there was blood on the ground. Unless Seungri was really clumsy and had cut his arm from the fall from his horse, Donghae was sure that something had attacked his guard. 

Seungri’s eyes opened as he moaned again, this time, the pain and agony was evident in his voice. “Young master what happened?” A city guardsman, a captain from the rank on his hat, asked as he and a few other of the city guard arrived to cluster around Donghae and Seungri.

“Something darted across the road and spooked the horses.” Donghae replied. “His horse bolted.”

The captain barked out orders to those under his command as Donghae watched Seungri slip back into unconsciousness. Someone had brought bandages from the gisaeng house to wrap around Seungri’s arm, while two male servants stood with Donghae’s horse. Some of the city guard had gone off to fetch Seungri’s horse, while others were searching the shadows to see if they could find evidence of whatever had spooked the horses. 


	2. Chapter 2

In another area of the city, a man dressed in black crouched low along a wall. His breathing almost betrayed him as the city guards rushed past the wall in a frenzy. “Find him!” One yelled, pointing a spear towards the entrance to the city. “Do not let him get away!”

The man waited until the group of guards passed before he peeked around the wall and sighed in relief, his body sagging against the wall. He knew, however, that the danger wouldn’t be over with until he was safe back in his quarters in the merchant district. He cautiously checked each way before standing from his hiding spot and stepping from behind the wall. He walked quietly, cautiously, alert to his surroundings. If he was caught now, the pack would be decimated.

It took longer than normal for him to get back to his quarters this time. The rumors of a wild pack of wolves in the forest beyond the city had sparked fear into the commoners and the poor people nearest the city gates. The fear had sparked petitions to the current King of Joseon to double up on the city guards around the gates and on patrol. But the wolves wasn’t the sole reason for the city guards in the poor district trying to catch him. No, tonight he’d been careless in his hunting and had been spotted changing back into his human form.

“Master, where have you been?” One of his slaves hissed at his door as he dropped in from the secret entrance of his residence.

Kim Yesung sighed. His shop specialized in clothing for the male yangban’s of Hanyang, especially the aristocratic older nobility. “I was out.” He snapped, stripping off his black clothing quickly and putting on his house robe. The slight stench of blood on him wouldn’t be noticeable to his normal clientele, so he hoped that whomever had shown up at his shop wasn’t one of the 3 packs in the area.

His slave bowed low to the ground. “Forgive me Master!” She practically wailed.

“Never mind that now. Who is it?” He softened his tone, trying to show the girl that he wasn’t really mad. He swept his house robe on over his clothing, tying the chest loosely.

“It’s Merchant Kim Heechul, Master.” The slave replied, hurrying along behind Yesung as he strode quickly from his bed chamber to the front where his shop was located. The name of his shop was Jongwoon, his former name before he’d become a shape shifter.

Yesung frowned. Why would Heechul be at his shop in the middle of the night? The other merchant was a shape shifter, but he affiliated with all 3 packs because he sold herbs and potions. Unless something had happened to one of the other packs? No, he would have heard about it from his pack leader, or there would have been a conclave summons for a meeting between the remaining packs. No, whatever it was that brought Kim Heechul to his shop near midnight wasn’t dire pack business but something else supernaturally related.

“Merchant Kim!” Yesung saw the older man and bowed respectfully. “What brings you here at this ungodly hour?”

Heechul smirked. “I can smell the stench of blood. You’ve been out to hunt?”

Yesung frowned. “Yes, why?”

Heechul sighed. “We have a new problem in the city.”

Yesung signaled for his slave to fetch drinks for them as he frowned. “New problem?”

Another slave brought a low table and some cushions for them to sit down. Heechul tapped a finger on the table. “Remember how we got that missive from Park Kahi in Gaeseong?” Hee-chul said, his hand stilling. “Those magick users are on the move and they’ve chosen our grand capital as their next destination.” Heechul grimaced as if he’d had something bitter.

Yesung sighed. He’d known the magick users would be coming. He’d smelled their scent on the winds. “This will not settle well with the packs.” He said. “Have you said anything to the other 2?”

Heechul nodded. “All 3 actually. It seems that the magick users are sending a scout ahead to root out what other supernatural elements are in the area before they chose a place to settle.”

Yesung tapped his finger once to signal to Heechul that one of the slaves was entering the room, thus pausing the conversation until the slave had placed the drinks and cups on the table and bowing while silently backing out of the room. Yesung was unique in his pack as he refused to let any of his slaves know about shape shifters, nor would he use other shifters as slaves in his shop. He’d told his pack leader once that using normal people kept up pretenses in Hanyang and the less suspicion he attracted the better. Shape shifters were not immortal, but they did live longer than average lives for the time period. Yesung knew eventually he’d have to give up his shop to another member of the pack, most likely one of the new kids that had just survived his first shifting.

Yesung poured Heechul a cup of tea. Shifters usually refused to drink anything but tea or water, but on occasion would have an alcoholic drink to satisfy social requirements. Yesung hated the taste of alcohol, so he rarely had it on hand after the shop closed. It was mostly for the non-shifter yangbans who chose to buy from his shop. Many seemed to expect alcohol in some form when shopping. “So we need to welcome this scout or are we going to scare her away?” He asked after pouring his own cup of tea.

Heechul took a moment to savor the brew. “You got this imported from China didn’t you?” He asked, an eyebrow raised.

Yesung looked at Heechul over the steaming cup and snorted. “And why would I not treat you to my newest and most precious tea?” He asked lightly.

Heechul laughed suddenly. They heard the soft footsteps of the head slave moving away from the door into one of the back areas of the house. They both took slow sips of the tea, savoring the aroma and flavor. “I think we will have to personally greet this scout and turn him or her away from Hanyang.” Heechul said softly, peering into his cup.

“Is that what the pack leaders think we should do?” Yesung asked, lifting the teapot and pouring another cup. He usually drank 2 pots of tea after a hunt, but he had a special brew for such occasions as it sated his bloodlust during the full moon periods.

Heechul shook his head. “No, just my personal assessment. We should have a conclave to inform the packs of the news.” He heard Yesung’s soft disgruntled sigh. “I know, I know. You hate the conclaves. But this is a potential threat we don’t need, especially after the packs were spotted outside the city.”

Yesung nodded. “We will need to discuss that issue as well. I know Kangin has already spoken to the rest of Pack Kim that any pack member caught shifting within easy sight of the city walls would be used for the next hunting target for the new shifters.”

Heechul nodded. “Pack Lee has already issued a similar decree, but the pack I’m most worried about is Pack Cho.”

Yesung tensed slightly. Cho Kyuhyun led the smallest and most diverse pack of shifters in the area. Most packs were made up of shifters who bore the same family surname as the pack leader, no matter the true blood relation to him. Pack Cho was the exception. Originally there had only been two shifter packs in Hanyang providence until Kim Kibum had challenged Kangin for leadership of the pack. Kibum had lost, and broke off from the pack, his tail tucked between his legs. Yesung sighed again, thinking about it.

Heechul knew from the sigh that Yesung was thinking about the events that lead to the formation of a third pack. Yesung had been there through the entire thing, a newly turned pup thrown into the chaos of a leadership successor challenge and being forced to choose between his loyalty to the pack who’d taken him in, or tuck his tail and side with the man whom he’d thought of as a close brother. Heechul cleared his throat. “Anyway, I will be talking with Kyuhyun tomorrow and will pass the word on about the scout.”

Yesung snapped out of his thoughts. He swiped a stray piece of his dark black hair away from his face. “I don’t know if Pack Cho would accept guidance from the other two packs.” He said, pouring Heechul another cup of tea. “Since succeeding Kibum for Pack leader, I’ve heard rumors that some of the pack members have been breaking the code of the Pack.”

Heechul leaned closer. “That is not rumor my friend.” He said, after sipping appreciatively of the brew. “Kyuhyun doesn’t have the iron fist that Kibum had, and its reflecting badly upon the other Packs.”

The pot of tea went quickly. Heechul stood and stretched, the tea had lasted throughout their conversation. Yesung saw Heechul out, waving off one of the slaves who guarded his shop and home at night before making himself a pot of his special tea. After finishing his tea and cleaning up, Yesung lay in his bed, but sleep refused to come for him. He was sure the next few days would be full of pretense and posturing once the Conclave was called.

His mind drifted unbidden to the last image his memory had of Cho Kyuhyun, which lead to the painful reminder of Kibum. Yesung tossed in his bed, frustrated that he couldn’t force his mind away from his former friend. He finally drifted off into a fitful sleep, his dreams full of the past.


	3. Chapter 3

Donghae watched carefully as some of the servants from the gisaeng house lifted Seungri onto the makeshift stretcher that the city guard captain had ordered be found. A few of the guardsmen broke off from the rest, one coming up to him and saluting. “Young master, we will accompany you back to the Lee house.”

Donghae nodded, the horse Seungri had been riding hadn’t been found yet, but he worried more for his cousin than the horse at this point. Seungri hadn’t woken up, and it was bothering Donghae. The captain came up to him, bowing low. “I will report what happened to the magistrate with your leave, Young master.” He said. “I’m sure that this is not an isolated case, especially with the rumors of wolves in the forest.”

Donghae cleared his throat, playing the perfectly aloof yangban towards the captain. “That sounds like there have been other reports of people being attacked at night?” He asked, a hint of annoyance in his voice. He made himself sound like he was appauled that the magistrate hadn't reported any previous attacks to Minister Lee.

The captain shook his head quickly. “Oh no Young master!” He exclaimed. “We’ve not seen or heard of any other reports of people being attacked, but the wolves…well, the number of wolves seen outside the city walls is reported to be increasing and I assumed that this might be related…” The man broke off, obviously embarrassed to be caught speculating towards a member of the noble class.

Donghae caught the captain’s eyes, piercing him with a commanding stare. “I will expect to see a full report from the magistrate on these wolf sightings, along with any other reports of attacks on my father’s desk in the morning.” He commanded.

“Yes Young master! I will personally hand them over in the morning!” The captain stood straight, his armor clinking.

“Good. Now if they have my guard ready, I will be heading home.” Donghae dismissed the man, frowning as he took note of the men ordered to protect him home. They were a sorry lot, and Donghae intented to speak with his father about this. If the city guards were incompetent in any way, it reflected badly on the leadership skills of the magistrates in charge of each section of the large capital. If the magistrates were lacking in their disipline of the city guards, then it fell back to Minister Lee's skills in controlling the magistrate. Any discrepencies in the handling of the protection of the citizens would eventually be heard by the King, who was not forgiving in any way of mistakes made under his rule.

The time it took for Donghae to arrive home meant that his mother and the head servant of the Lee household would be up waiting for him. He took the time to reflect on his own goals and to formulate a plan of action in case his father wanted him to personally handle the case as the successor and heir to the Lee family.

Seungri's complexion had paled during the half hour it took to get from the attack site to his quarters in the Lee house. As Donghae had predicted, his mother and the head servant had fussed over how late they were getting back to the house, and then grew alarmed at the fact that Seungri had been attacked.

"I think we need to up your guard detail." Minister Lee told Donghae the next morning when it was reported that Seungri's condition hadn't changed and he was still unconcious. The doctor had arrived in the middle of the night, slightly disheveled and completely unnerved that Seungri had not regained consciousness after being thrown from his horse.

Donghae shook his head. The promised reports had arrived at daybreak by the captain, who looked exhausted. Nothing from the reports suggested that Seungri's attack and the increase in wolves were related. "No, father, I don't think that it's necessary." Donghae replied. "It could be that it was a random attack." His father had decided Seungri being attacked meant that Donghae was in danger from asssasins or someone from one of the other political factions in the city.

"Master, there is a young man here to see the injured servant." A household slave announced from behind the door of Minister Lee's office.

"Who is it?" Minister Lee asked, putting the magistrate reports aside. Donghae also turned, and pulled out a new cushion for the guest to sit on. He turned himself to the right side of his father's desk.

"His name is Kang Daesung. He came to replace the other doctor treating the servant." The slave replied.

"Send him in." Minister Lee said.

Donghae felt something odd as Kang Daesung came into the room. He bowed low to them and then waited until Minister Lee nodded for him to sit down. "So, have you seen him?" Minster Lee asked, getting straight to the point.

Daesung nodded. "The patient is still comatose, but his wound was treated well, so there should be no scarring." He said. "I would like to treat him at my clinic so I can keep an eye on him when he wakes up."

Donghae felt the tension rise in the room. Was he the one who was tense, or was it the Dr? Donghae decided it was himself who tensed up as Minster Lee nodded. It must be because he worried for Seungri. What if his cousin didn't wake up?

Daesung took his leave of the Lee's after answering some questions for the Minster. He crossed the yard toward the family quarters where Seungri had been placed. After arranging transportation for the patient, Daesung wrote a quick message that he sent off with his trusted assistant.

Kwon Ji Yong would not be happy to hear that they had another additon to the Clan. It meant that someone within the cat clan was attacking random people and infecting them with the shifter virus. The reply came back from the Clan faster than Daesung expected. Seungri was being placed within the Clan's specialized shifter house. Daesung expected that Seungri would be starting the shifting process sometime before midnight.

Donghae came over to see Seungri before the young guard was to be moved. "Take good care of him Doctor." Donghae surprised Daesung with how concerned he was for the younger man. Daesung was acustomed to yangbans being aloof toward their servants and guards, showing no concern or emotions toward the non-nobility.

Daesung bowed to Donghae. "Do not fear Young master." He replied. "I will be with him the entire time to ensure he is getting the best care possible. I will send word once he wakes up." He reassured Donghae, sensing the other male’s need for comfort.

Donghae visibly relaxed. His eyes grew soft as he gazed over at his cousin. "I leave him in your care." Donghae walked by the palaquin and placed a hand upon the sleeping Seungri's shoulder before straightening and leaving the area.

Daesung spoke once more to the Lady of the house, and assured her that Seungri was in good hands. As they left the house, his assistant, Lee Sungmin walked beside him. The only animal Daesung used was the horse that pulled the palaquin. "Do you think he has a high chance of surviving the shifting?" Daesung asked his assistant.

Sungmin looked down at Seungri. “Right now it doesn’t look good because he is just barely past puberty, but he is healthier than most others who were infected at his age, so that may boost his chances of success.” Sungmin assessed, his tone thoughtful and almost distant as he contemplated the rates of a shifter success.

Daesung sighed. “It will be a miracle if this one survives the shifting where others have died.” He said. “Ji Yong will be having a fit when we arrive.” He told the older man. Age didn’t mean much in the cat clans. Much like with the wolf packs, there were dominate cats and submissive cats. Sungmin might be much older than Daesung, but Daesung was stronger with his feline form than Sungmin, which made the older one more submissive.

Donghae couldn’t shake off the feeling that something bad was coming. He went about his duties as the dutiful son of a Minster should, but in the back of his head, something nagged at him. He chose not to visit the gisaeng house in favor of quiet contemplation in his study. Others mistook his contemplation as guilt over Seungri being attacked, but Donghae dismissed those thoughts.

By the time Daesung arrived at the Clan’s shifter house outside the city, Seungri had already started showing signs of shifting. His body was covered in sweat, and lay in a semi-fetal position as much as the palanquin would allow him. “Get him quickly into the house.” Daesung ordered, an unnatural feeling of worry settling into his stomach. “Sungmin, go inform Ji Yong we’ve arrived, then go get the wolfsbane.”

Sungmin raised an eyebrow at the mention of wolfsbane. The potent herb rendered most shifters incapable of movement or shifting when ground into a wound, or kept most wolves away when spread out in a barrier around a house. Sungmin bowed quickly, not questioning Daesung’s orders.

“How is he?” Ji Yong’s voice quietly asked a time later as Daesung wipe the sweat off of Seungri’s brow.

“He’s fighting the change.” Daesung replied. “He’s a strong one.”

Ji Yong sat down next to Daesung. “This makes the fourth one this month. I wonder who’s been turning people.” He said, staring at Seungri’s face.

“We need to catch whomever is doing this.” Daesung said. “I’m all for the clan growing, but not like this.”

Ji Yong nodded. “I just got a missive from the Wolf packs.” He said, changing the subject. “They’re calling a conclave meeting in 3 days.”

Daesung’s eyes widened. “But the wolf packs have never included the Clan in their conclaves before!” He exclaimed, all formalities gone.

Ji Yong sighed, his shoulders slumping. Being the alpha of the Clan was taking its toll on the young feline. “The coven from Gaeseong is sending a scout ahead to move a portion of the witches from that city to the capital.” He said. “One of the cats sent word about a month ago that Japan is attempting to infiltrate the capital and the coven wants to prevent any issues from happening.”

Daesung tensed as he wiped Seungri’s brow again. The young man was sweating less as his body succumbed slowly to the change.  He said nothing as he felt Ji Yong move.

“Shhh.” Ji Yong placed a hand on Seungri’s forehead while placing his other hand on Daesung’s shoulder. “It’s past time we guided him into the change.”

Daesung nodded silently, settling back and closing his eyes. He felt the gentle tug from inside his mind as Ji Yong delved into Seungri’s mind. His feline purred quietly as they appeared in with Ji Yong in the subconscious part of Seungri’s mind. The private inner sanctum of a shifter’s mind was sacred to most shifter, only letting certain people in, such as mates, or on occasion, the leader of their pack or clan.

‘ _He seems pretty calm for being in the beginning stages of shifting.’_ Daesung’s feline, named D, observed as he waited for Ji Yong to sense where Seungri was hiding in the sanctum. It wasn’t uncommon for the animal side of a shifter and the human side to talk to each other, it was just not as noticeable with feline shifters.

“Found him.” Ji Yong said, grabbing a hold of Daesung’s arm.

Daesung closed his eyes, feeling Ji Yong moving at what seemed a break-neck speed. The fast, supernatural way Ji Yong was able to move inside a mind was astounding and usually made Daesung nauseous both mentally and physically. He’d woken up on more than one occasion during a first shifting to find he’d vomited at some point during the process. He felt Ji Yong slow down finally and opened his eyes.

Ji Yong pointed down into an area that obviously was newly formed from the condensation on the dense foliage. This was where Seungri would be hiding, his feline counterpart not far from him. Daesung nodded and took a deep breath. “Seungri?” He called softly, crouching down to peer into the foliage.

Ji Yong took a few steps back to show that he didn’t want to intimidate the new shifter. A rustling sound came from their right as Daesung spotted a dark black panther stick his nose out, sniffing the air.

“Who….who’s there?” In front of Daesung the voice called out, obviously frightened and shaky.

“My name is Daesung. I’m a doctor.” He said, careful to keep his tone as neutral as possible. He felt more than heard the panther silently creep up to sniff cautiously at Daesung before backing away and changing angles to sniff Ji Yong.

“Where am I?” Seungri asked from inside the foliage. “I remember riding down the street with Young master Donghae when my horse reared.”

Daesung relaxed. Seungri sounded in control of himself despite the scared, predatory way his feline prowled around them. “You became unconscious when you fell of your horse. Someone attacked you and now you are at my clinic.” He calmly explained. “Do you feel ok to come out of the bush?”  
Shuffling sounds echoed around them as a disheveled and obviously frightened Seungri came out of the foliage. He froze at the sight of Ji Yong sitting calmly petting the panther next to him. “That panther has been here stalking me.” He said, his voice rising an octave as he started to shake.

“Shh.” Daesung soothed him. “It’s ok. He won’t hurt you.”

‘ _The panther says Seungri has been hiding from him, and won’t let him speak.’_ D informed him.

“How do you know he won’t hurt me?” Seungri had begun to back slowly into the foliage.

Ji Yong cleared his throat. “If he were to hurt you, he would also hurt Daesung, and me. But as you can see, he is pretty tame.”

Seungri narrowed his eyes. “Who are you?” He asked.

“My name is Ji Yong. I’m a shape shifter and so are you.” Ji Yong replied smoothly, his eyes staring into Seungri’s frightened ones. “Don’t be frightened.”

Seungri snorted. “A shape shifter?” He looked at Daesung. “Is he crazy?”

Daesung shook his head. “No, he’s not crazy. None of us are crazy, but all of us have a feline counterpart.” He gave D a mental pat as his feline materialized next to him. “Seungri, we are inside your mind because you are resisting the change. You are resisting that beautiful panther next to Ji Yong.” He continued, seeing Seungri’s eyes widen at the light spotted leopard that now sat next to Daesung. “This is my animal counterpart.” He said.

“How…?” Seungri dropped to the ground, his legs finally giving way under him. The panther next to Ji Yong stood, a worried huff issuing from the animal before it started slinking toward Seungri.

Daesung placed a hand on D, feeling comfort and warmth radiating from the feline. “Don’t be scared.” He soothed, radiating comfort and acceptance as Seungri’s panther crept closer to him.

Seungri tensed, but did not back away as the beautiful animal slid up to him. It seemed seeing D had helped calm Seungri and had been a tactic they’d not done before with a first shift. The panther sat in front of Seungri, seemingly patient as Seungri stared at him.

Daesung held his breath as he saw Seungri’s hand twitch. It took a long moment before Seungri placed a tentative hand on the panther’s head, the tension melting as the panther’s long tail started to move back and forth.

The panther practically climbed into Seungri’s lap, the young man’s face slowly transforming from scared to curious to delight as they bonded. D pushed at Daesung, seeking some affection as they waited.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realize that I keep going back to previous chapters and adding little details and things that I feel the scene needed, but I hope I don't end up doing it for the entire story. Normally I have several chapters written in advance and edited before putting them up, but thought I'd try something different with this one.


	4. Chapter 4

When Seungri had fallen off his horse, he’d managed to avoid getting hit by the animal’s powerful legs, but the shock of falling off his horse combined with the scratch on his arm caused him to lose consciousness.

“What the?” He blinked as he took in his surroundings. This was not the dark street in Hanyang that Seungri had been traveling down with Donghae, nor was it dark. A rustling noise behind him had Seungri reaching for a sword that physically wasn’t there, while he turned around slowly. He let out a girlish scream as the black panther jumped out from the bright green landscape that had sprouted around them. He would never live down that scream if anyone else had heard it.

‘ _Don’t be afraid.’_ The voice came unbidden in Seungri’s mind as he scrambled back away from the animal.

“Who said that?” Seungri demanded, spinning around.

‘ _I didn’t say it. Stop moving, I want to get a good look at you.’_ The voice seemed amused about something.

Seungri spun around to face the panther again, his instinct to run proving greater than his wonder at why a panther was sitting passively in front of him as he tripped while trying to backpedal away from the animal. He rushed into the foliage and kept moving as he heard the panther behind him, a low huffing sound announcing his presence behind Seungri every time he stopped.

When he heard another human voice, he’d felt relief that he would be saved from the predator, not realizing in his fear that a real predatory animal would have already killed him. He’d lost track of how long he’d been in this strange bright world that seemed to grow more colorful.

When the leopard appeared out of thin air next to Daesung, Seungri felt his legs go out from underneath him. This wasn’t a bad dream, and he wasn’t crazy. The panther sat in front of Seungri. ‘ _Good, you are realizing the truth.’_ The voice said inside Seungri’s head again. He didn’t see Daesung or Ji Yong’s lips move, so he knew it wasn’t them.

Seungri gazed into the eyes of the panther, feeling a soothing comfort as their eyes connected. The panther felt warm and welcoming, and Seungri found himself moving without fear as he placed his hand on top of the panther’s head. A warm burst of happiness slammed into Seungri from the panther.

‘ _You are Seungri.’_ The panther purred as he climbed into Seungri’s lap. ‘ _I do not have a name yet. To give me a name would seal the bond between us.’_

Seungri thought for a moment. The only thing that came to his mind was relief that the panther wasn’t going to eat him. His eyes caught movement from behind Daesung and looked up as Ji Yong smiled at him and before he realized it, he spoke. “Dragon, your name is Dragon.” He pictured the fiercest dragon he could imagine to the panther.

The panther’s satisfaction grew. ‘ _Dragon….sounds strong and scary. I like it.’_ The panther snuggled into Seungri happily, which relaxed Seungri even more.

Ji Yong came closer to the pair, glad this had a better outcome than some of the others. “We have to go now Seungri. It’s important for you to remember that the bond between you and your feline is forever and that he will help guide you through the next step.”

Daesung stood, his feline crowding around his legs before disappearing. “Once you have completed the next step, we will be waiting for you to wake with food and water.”

Seungri nodded, somehow knowing that he would be ok. “Thank you.” He said, bowing his head toward them as both Ji Yong and Daesung faded from his vision.

**

During the time Seungri was training with the Clan, the Conclave happened. As it was a special meeting of all shifters, the Clan had been invited. There was a lot of posturing, jockeying for positions and dominance tests as the 3 packs and the Clan gathered. Seungri had adapted well to his new life as a shifter and had been excited to be told he would be going along with the Clan to the meeting as he’d been stuck in the Clan house learning their rules and about shifting in general and felt like he was going to suffocate if he didn’t get to go roam around, a sure sign that he was physically adapting to the change well.

When Seungri got there, he was shocked to see some of his family members at the meeting, and surprised to learn he was the only feline shifter from the Lee family. He didn’t remember much of the Conclave in between meeting other shifters and having to prove his strength in dominance contests with some of the Clan members that came from other villages.

“I’ve got a bad feeling about this hyung.” Seungri overheard two males on the second day of the Conclave. “The issues needs to be dealt with.” A familiar male voice said, exasperation in his voice. “The poor boy was just changed a few days ago, and I won’t stand for any more innocent humans being changed without consent.”

It was Daesung talking to another feline shifter named Zhou Mi. Seungri had met Zhou Mi the night before when the shifter had arrived from one of the port towns on the northern edge of the Joseon territory. He was one of the few feline shifters that orginiated from China, coming to the area despite the increasing restrictions that Joseon was placing on international relations.

Seungri knew better than to eavesdrop in on a private conversation though neither Daesung nor Zhou Mi were trying to shield their conversation from any passing shifter. He hurried on to where Ji Yong was waiting for him with another member of the Clan.

Daesung heard the familiar pattern of footsteps, as he sat with Zhou Mi in a room of the Pack house. “Ji Yong asked me to ask you to investigate because you are not easily recognizable as a shifter and we need your predatory skills to sniff out the culprits. We learned from Pack leader Kim that Pack Cho has had a sudden influx of new shifters emerge that is not natural.”

Zhou Mi sighed, rubbing his hand over his face. He knew Daesung meant well, and that 3 of the 4 shifter leaders were all worried about a possible rogue shifter or 2 attacking people outside of the code and increasing the population of the shifters. “Alright. I’ll investigate, but I’ll need to send for my second. She’s more adapt at investigation than I am.”

Daesung’s scent changed from worried to relieve as his smile radiated from his face. Zhou Mi sucked in a breath. “Thank you hyung, you won’t regret it!” He said.

Zhou Mi tried to ignore the warm fuzzy feeling that bloomed in his chest. He waved at Daesung dismissively, avoiding the other shifters eyes. “I’m glad you think so.”

After Daesung left, Zhou Mi had to meditate to keep his balance emotionally. The whole reason why he’d left China was to avoid persecution for liking men, but it seemed a common theme in the various countries that a man liking another man or being involved with another man was still considered a taboo and punishable by death. Shifters had a harder time dealing with such restrictions because of how much they related to the animal side of nature. It wasn’t uncommon in the Pack and Clan houses to find some of the shifters of the same gender snuggling with each other for comfort, even if it was against the laws of the land.

Zhou Mi wasn’t sure if Daesung liked other men or not, and refused to ask out of fear of being rejected by yet another potential mate, so he stuffed his feelings into his meditation and focused on his upcoming task. First was to sniff out this Cho Kyuhyun and ask to meet the new shifters in his pack after he sent off the missive to his second in command at his pack house. ‘ _I’d stick my paw on someone in Cho Kyuhyun’s pack.’_ His feline, Niqui informed him lazily. Zhou Mi imagined the cheetah was lounging in a sunny spot in his inner sanctum, stretched out while cleaning a paw.

Zhou Mi chuckled. ‘ _Of course. With Kibum gone, I’m sure one of his lackey’s decided he wanted more pack mates.’_ He thought back. ‘ _Doesn’t explain the rogue feline shifter though. And Ji Yong said all the local Clan members are accounted for.’_

_‘Could be a non-clan affiliated shifter then._ ’ Niqui replied, sounding more alert at the idea of a non-Clan attacking humans.

Zhou Mi added the speculation to his possible list of suspects. The biggest thing that bothered him was the fact that Cho Kyuhyun had succeded Kibum quite suddenly and without any warning from the other shifter. Lee Hyukjae had personally interogated several members of Pack Cho and reported back that it was the oddest succession recorded in shifter history. One of those canine shifters, Im Jinah, had told Hyukjae that the day Kyuhyun succeeded Kibum, everyone had been going about their daily duties like normal. She’d even mentioned that it seemed too normal of a day around the Pack house. Hyukjae had mentioned to Zhou Mi that up until that day, Kibum always had something going on that disrupted what a normal Pack life was supposed to be like, but he wasn’t sure of the details since no one in Pack Cho mentioned them outright.

Zhou Mi sighed. He had too little information to even pinpoint a true starting area outside of reviewing the recordings of the interviews. Hyukjae had at least been smart enough to have a couple of scribes on hand who could record the interviews onto rice paper to keep the succession records accurate.

‘ _We should interview the people that Eunhyuk says seem suspicious.’_ Niqui told him suddenly. ‘ _Eunhyuk said that when his human was interviewing the other shifters, they were trying to hide something.’_

‘ _Well, that is a good starting point!’_ Zhou Mi chuckled. ‘ _Who should we start with first? It might be prudent to get a hold of all the shifters Hyukjae interviewed before the Conclave is over, but I’m afraid that may prove to be not as quiet about the investigation as Ji Young would like.’_

_‘That girl, Im Jinah, her wolf is Nana, says she’s available to talk. Nana seems a bit jittery too.’_ Niqui purred soothingly. ‘ _I don’t like how she’s jittery. Like she’s the prey for some larger shifter and is hiding.’_

Zhou Mi stood and stretched. ‘ _Well then, tell her we will meet her someplace she feels safe.’_ He straightened his hanbok, frowning over how creased it had become while he’d been sitting. He strode out of the Pack house and waited for Im Jinah’s wolf to respond to the meeting request.


	5. Chapter 5

It would be two weeks before Seungri was finally allowed to come back to the Lee household. The Minister welcomed him back personally, stating he’d known since the moment Seungri had been born that he’d become the best guardsman for his son.

Seungri found it strange, but comforting to be back into his old routine. Donghae had looked like he’d not gotten much sleep in the 2 weeks since the attack. Dragon was a constant source of reassurance in the back of Seungri’s mind, alerting him to things he’d not seen before. The Lee household was in a huge bustle of activity not long after he returned. “What’s going on?” Seungri stopped one of the servant girls who’d been friendly to him before.

“The Minister finally sent the marriage proposal to the Minister of War.” She told him excitedly. “The Young master met Lady Choi while you were gone and agreed to the match.”

Seungri couldn’t believe his ears. 3 weeks ago Donghae had sworn he’d never marry the Choi daughter because it was considered a political match to reinforce the strength and ties between the houses and to appease the King. He wondered what had made Donghae change his mind.

‘ _I sense another shifter.’_ Dragon pressed on his senses. Seungri gave a rare smile of thanks to the girl as she scurried off to whatever task she’d been sent to do. He strode toward the entrance to Donghae’s quarters. His nose told him it was the smell of a wolf. The bitter smell made Seungri sneeze. Even after being at the Conclave, the smell of a canine was enough to overload his senses if he wasn’t prepared for it. Looks like he’d have to do more work with the wolfsbane. Dragon grumbled unhappily at the thought of dealing with the acrid smelling herb again.

“I didn’t agree to be married in a week!” Donghae’s voice rang clearly in Seungri’s ears.

“Young master, I understand that this is faster than what tradition dictates, but the King ordered you be married now. He’s become quite paranoid about something from the reports in the palace.” A male voice replied. Seungri couldn’t quite place who that voice belonged to.

“I know this.” Donghae’s voice replied back, irritation laced with annoyance in his voice. “I thought the King was only going to give his opinion on whom I should marry, not when!” A thump sounded clearly to Seungri’s ears, sounding suspiciously like one of the many books Donghae was reading in preparation for taking the government official exams.

“The King decided unexpectedly that all Ministers with marriageable daughters and sons had to submit their choices and he would chose the pairings.” Another man, presumably Donghae’s long time teacher, replied to the irate nobleman. “No one knows why he chose to do this against tradition. He has the Queen Dowager and the Queen Mother both upset with him over this.”

Seungri sniffed the air conspicuously while tuning out the private conversation between Donghae and his retinue. He turned swiftly and pointing his covered sword at the side of the building. “Whomever you are, come out now.” He growled. He was surprised at the ferocity of his voice and realized that Dragon had added his displeasure at the smell of a wolf to Seungri’s voice.

A timid young looking servant girl peeked around the corner, squeaking in fright at the sight of Seungri pointing a sheathed sword at her. “I’m sorry sir.” She dropped to the ground, exposing her neck to him in submission. He hadn’t expected her to submit so quickly.

Seungri felt bad suddenly. “I didn’t mean to frighten you little one.” He said soothing, lowering his sword. “I’m Clan, not Pack. You don’t need to submit to me.” He said.

“You are much stronger than I. It matters not if you are feline or canine. I must submit to those more dominate than I.” She trembled.

Seungri sighed. Shifter ranks still confused him, especially the Pack ranks. He ran a finger over the girls’ neck in acceptance of her submission as he’d been taught at the Conclave. “Stand little one. What is your name and which house are you from?”

The girl threw herself into a deep bow. “My name is Park Sunyoung.” She said, practically burying her face into her skirts. “I….I was sent from the Choi household to fetch the requirements for the wedding dress and got lost.”

Seungri smelt the girls’ shame. “I am truly sorry little one for scaring you.” He smiled. “I can lead you to the Lady Lee’s quarters.” He reached out and pulled Sunyoung straight. “You don’t have to bow to me like that Park Sunyoung. I’m just the Young master’s guard. My name is Lee Seungri.”

As he led the wolf pup to the Lady’s quarters, he decided to ask the question that his feline had been begging him to ask. “So, which Pack are you affiliated with?” He asked casually.

“Pack Cho.” Sunyoung replied almost obediently. “I was born into the Pack, to answer the next question your feline has for me.”

Seungri chuckled. “So I take it Dragon has introduced himself to your wolf?”

She nodded, a smile gracing her face for the first time since they met. “Her name is Luna and she is most pleased to meet you and Dragon.” Sunyoung said confidently before wincing.

Seungri realized that the girl must have to tiptoe around the Choi’s if she’s being overly submissive to him. “It’s ok, you can relax with me.” He encouraged as he lead her around the corner of the low inner wall of the household. “Here is the Lady’s quarters. Would you like me to stay?”

Sunyoung nodded, a blush crossing her face. Seungri announced to the Lady’s room that someone from the Choi household was there to pick up the garment requirements. Sunyoung meekly bowed to the slave that opened the house quarter doors and beckoned to her to come into the house.

‘ _For a wolf, she’s pretty cute.’_ Dragon told him, sounding amused. ‘ _Luna told me that she’s not the only shifter at the Choi household, but they’re all Pack, not Clan.’_

Well, that was unexpected. The lone feline would be smack in the middle of a bunch of wolves. This day was getting better and better. He would have to report back to the Clan about these unexpected findings as Ji Yong and Daesung had both advised him to be alert to his surroundings and report anything he found odd to them, even if it was something they already knew.

‘ _I don’t want you to get too friendly with the wolves.’_ Seungri scolded Dragon. ‘ _D told us before we left that anyone from Pack Cho was to be handled as if they were compromised. One of their wolves maybe running with the rogue feline attacking humans.’_

The sound of the door opening alerted Seungri to Sunyoung coming out of the quarters. “Don’t forget to give Lady Choi the requirements as soon as you get back to the Choi household.” Lady Lee said, personally escorting the servant out the door.

“My Lady I will do so with most haste!” Sunyoung replied, clutching the sleeve of parchment pieces to her chest.

“Oh good, Seungri, you are here.” Lady Lee spotted him standing comfortably off to the side of the step. “I know you are just back from recovering from that dreadful attack, but I must ask you to please escort Miss Park back to the Choi house.” She gave Seungri a bright smile.

Seungri nodded, bowing low to the noble woman. “It would be my honor to ensure that Miss Park is back to her Lady’s house without harm.” He said. Seungri knew that the wedding garment requirements for the daughter of the Choi household were very precious and of the utmost importance.

Master Lee had yet to impress the importance of this wedding onto Seungri, probably expecting Donghae to do so in his place, which had, of course, slipped Donghae’s mind the moment Seungri had announced he was fit and ready to resume his guard duties the day after he’d come home. Sunyoung smiled brightly at him after she tucked the parchments into the sleeve of her hanbok. They both bowed to Lady Lee and her maid before heading off.


	6. Chapter 6

The week before the Lee/Choi wedding had all of Hanyang in a frenzy. The King himself was rumored to be in attendance to this marriage he’d arranged himself. Other rumors had it that Donghae was pretending to marry a Choi, but in reality was married already to one of the Princesses, or a cousin of the King, or the sister of the Queen.

Seungri saw more of Sunyoung than he’d expected as he was forced to dash back and forth between the households for random errands. The problem Seungri had with this was that the Choi household was on the other side of the city compared to the Lee household, which sat close enough to the Merchant district that sometimes he felt that the Lee’s were really the head of all the Merchants instead of being a Minister to the King.

No leads had been found by the Magistrate on the case of Seungri’s attack. He suspected that they would never find the shifter responsible for his change, and he was strangely ok with that.

‘ _Good, because you would be ten times more lonely without me.’_ Dragon told him smugly, sounding pleased and amused at the same time.

Seungri snorted softly in response. He didn’t want to attract any more attention to himself than needed during this errand. Zhou Mi had shown up at the Lee household, claiming that Daesung had called for Seungri to come in for a quick check to ensure he was fully recovered from the attack, but in reality Zhou Mi had wanted the new shifter to take a carefully wrapped package full of herbs from the Herb Merchant Kim to the gisaeng house. He’d murmured so quietly to Seungri that the House Mother had recently acquired a new girl fresh from China that Seungri couldn’t refuse the task.

‘ _Do you think this new girl Mi mentioned is a shifter?’_ Seungri asked Dragon, darting sideways nimbly to avoid a group of newly arrived visitors to the capital. The wedding had brought in several members of the noble class from both families and it made Seungri uneasy.

‘ _More than likely if Merchant Kim is involved.’_ Dragon replied. ‘ _I wonder if she’s a feline or a wolf.’_

Seungri had to smile. Dragon had a low opinion of all canine shifters, but surprisingly a high respect only for the Herb Merchant and a clothing Merchant named Kim Yesung. Seungri hadn’t pried what made those two canine shifters special to Dragon, but he figured he’d find out sooner or later.

Seungri saw the lanterns that marked the gisaeng house out. They must be having an event for the lanterns to be out this early in the evening. He arrived at the gate and told one of the servant guards at the entrance that he needed to speak with the House Mother on the errand from Merchant Kim and hoped that the woman would know what he was talking about.

Seungri only waited a few minutes before he was quickly ushered into one of the side rooms meant for servants. He stood with the package still firmly wrapped up in his arms, unsure of what exactly was going on. “I apologize for making you wait.” Krystal stepped softly into the room. “I see you are part of the Clan now.” She said after bowing.

Seungri felt his jaw drop. Dragon hadn’t alerted him to any other shifters in the gisaeng house, so how did the House Mother know he was a shifter?

Krystal gave a little giggle. “Don’t freak out on me.” She said soothingly, stepping closer to Seungri. “I’m a childhood friend of Sunyoung and am also on good terms with the Clan and Packs.”

Seungri felt he could breathe again. “Are you?”

“Goodness no!” Krystal said, gesturing for Seungri to sit on one of the cushions placed near a low table. “I would have been changed had it not been for Master Howie. He took me in after Sunyoung shifted for the first time out in the woods when we were children.”

“Oh.” Seungri nodded. “So, since you saw Sunyoung change, you learned about shifters?”

Krystal nodded as she gracefully sat down on a cushion opposite him. “The previous leader of Pack Kim liked to frequent the House and brought me here after finding a bloodied Sunyoung guarding me from the batch of bandits that had tried to attack and rape us.” Krystal said. “He told Master Howie that in exchange for the girls entertaining members of the Packs and Clan, he would teach me about shifters so I could manage which girls entertained their members and how little alcohol to provide to them.”

Seungri relaxed with the information Krystal gave him. “So I take it you know what the package Herb Merchant Kim sent?”

Krystal smiled warmly at Seungri, making him blush. She nodded. “Yes. We recently acquired a new girl from China who is a shifter.” Krystal tapped once on the floor. “She’s….well, you should see for yourself...” She trailed off as the door to the room opened and two servant girls guided the new gisaeng girl into the room.

Seungri tilted his head up and almost gagged. The scent rolling off the girl smelt of a combination of wolf and something so acidic that he wanted to plug his nose or dive into a patch of wolfsbane to rid his senses of the offensive smell. “What in the world?” Seungri asked, barely keeping himself from trying to escape the smell.

“What do you smell?” Krystal asked.

“Wolf and…something I’ve not smelt before.” He choked out.

Krystal nodded. “Give me the package.” She told Seungri, her hand stretched out.

Seungri shoved the package at her, breathing through his mouth in an attempt to lessen the smell in his nose. He looked over the girl as Krystal opened the package and then tapped on the floor two times.

“Does she speak Korean?” He asked Krystal.

“I speak Korean and Japanese.” The girl said clearly, her accent barely noticeable. She glanced at Krystal. “Mistress, I tell you this is not needed.”

Krystal looked at the girl, a frown marring her face. “Her name is Song Qian, but she insists on going by Victoria.” She told Seungri.

“It is the name of my shifter and I will not be called by any other name.” Victoria said, a sharpness to her voice that Seungri was sure the House Mother couldn’t hear.

Krystal looked at Seungri. “She also doesn’t want to submit to non-shifter authority.” The door opened again, and a third servant brought in a tray with 2 cups and a tea pot. “Have the hot water ready at the door in case we need to make more brew.” Krystal told her, taking the tray and setting it onto the floor beside her.

“Yes House Mother.” The girl said, bowing and backing out from the room.

Krystal finished opening the package. Several different herbs smells assaulted Seungri’s nose, one of them being wolfsbane. He drank in the familiar smell of the herb.

The moment the smells of the herbs hit Victoria however, she sunk to her knees. Seungri was sure she knew what was going on, even if he wasn’t clear. Krystal worked quickly, taking a parchment out of her sleeve and adding pinches of certain herbs to the tea pot.

After a few minutes, Krystal gently swirled the tea pot to mix the brew inside and poured a cup. She beckoned to Victoria to come closer. “Seungri, you may have to aid me.” She told him, as Victoria shifted closer to them.

Seungri nodded. “Will I need to hold her down or?” He asked, preparing himself mentally for a shifter going out of control.

“Possibly.” Krystal said. “Victoria.” She said staring confidently at the other girl. “You need to drink this.”

Seungri watched, fascinated, as Victoria’s hands jerked. They started to rise to take the cup from Krystal, but fell halfway there. “NO!” She growled, her eyes darkening.

Seungri moved quickly, his feline reflexes kicking in. “Submit!” He growled, his voice husky with the aid of Dragon. He really was getting used to the dominance thing quickly.

The command shuddered through Victoria as she turned her gaze from Krystal to him. She whimpered, her head tilting back a little as her hands shook. Seungri growled deeper this time. Dragon was _angry_. This shifter didn’t want to submit to him even though he had sensed from the second she’d walked in the door that he was 10 times more powerful than she. “ _Submit now, or die._ ” He ground out, trying to keep from tearing into the soft flesh of her neck. Dragon hissed through Seungri in warning toward the girl.

The threat to her life had Victoria down on the ground, her neck exposed clearly to Seungri in complete submission. “ _Good girl.”_ Dragon seemed to simmer down. Seungri looked over at Krystal. She gave a tiny nod of her head to him. Seungri fought the urge to tighten a hand over Victoria’s throat as he accepted her submission to him. She would get her due punishment for trying to defy submission.

The tension in the air cleared as Victoria sat up, her eyes wide and body trembling in fear. Krystal seemed unfazed by his display of dominance over the new girl. She held out the cup again. “Drink.” She commanded.

Victoria took the cup this time, and drank from the cup. Seungri watched, amazed as she downed cup after cup of the noxious smelling brew, but by the time the package of herbs was gone, the odd smells in the room had waned and changed completely.

“Now, Seungri, tell me what you smell now.” Krystal said, as Victoria sat in front of them, the trembling and fear now gone. She sat straight backed even though exhaustion played across her face more than once.

Seungri sat up in shock. “She’s a feline!” He said, shocked. He could have sworn she’d been canine, but if someone, or something had masked the girl’s scent as a different species of shifter completely….Seungri couldn’t finish that thought.

“What?!” Both Krystal and Victoria said, shock and surprise in their voices.


	7. Chapter 7

Yesung couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Apparently neither could Ji Yong, nor Heechul. Zhou Mi’s network of contacts hadn’t explicitly confirmed what species of shifter she was, only that she could shift. “Do you think this is the work of that coven?” Yesung asked, his long fingers absently twisting a piece of string.

Zhou Mi rubbed a tired hand over his face. In between searching for the rogue attackers and dealing with this new gisaeng, he was tired. It would take a few more days before Kim Yujin, his second from his own feline Clan, would arrive to relieve him for a bit. “I wouldn’t put it past the witches to attempt to pull something like this off.” Zhou Mi said in response to Yesung. He scratched at spot on his arm while shrugging. “I don’t know all that much about them though, so at this point it’s pure speculation.”

“If I may, there is someone whom we can gather information about witches from.” Krystal interjected between the shifters.

Heechul raised an eyebrow at Krystal. “What else do you have up your sleeve that we may find useful?” He said with a hint of humor in his voice. “The more you pull out of the sleeve, the more my pockets empty into your hands.”

Yesung raised his cup towards Heechul in a silent toast to the idea. Even with all the nasty stuff that was going on around them, the man could still find time to think about chasing a tail or two both shifter and non-shifter. Yesung himself frequented the gisaeng house on a monthly basis, but due to the Lee/Choi wedding he'd been so busy the last 2 weeks with those invited to the celebration coming in for new hanboks. It was almost enought to make him want to drink something sweet or fermented. Ji Yong cleared his throat, bringing the focus back to the conversation.

"So we would greatly appriciate your contact in learning more about witches." Ji Yong said, smiling politely at Krystal. They needed to keep the House Mother in the shifter's good graces in order to keep gaining information that otherwise would be forfeit to them. Ji Yong made a mental note that there should be more than one shfter in the gisaeng house in order to balance out Victoria and to get more information on the nobles. "We also have another pressing issue that I think we all need to discuss here." Ji Yong added.

Krystal raised an eyebrow. "I assume you mean the rising conflict between Joseon and Japan?"

Ji Yong nodded. As the only alpha shifter in this meeting, he felt it was needed to warn the gisaeng house of any possible threats to their business. "I've already spoken with the Packs and we've all agreed that banding together all the supernatural elements to prevent any potential threats to our existence is vital to our survival."

"Word from our allies on the coast is that Japan plans to invade Joseon." Krystal said. "Some of the outer gisaeng houses are packing up and moving further inward to join other houses, or they are preparing for the impending invasion by aquiring gisaengs who speak Japanese fluently and training the other gisaengs how to provide entertainment to the Japanese soldiers."

"The big problem is, we don't know what the Palace and the King plan to do about this potential threat to our country." Heechul interjected. "My contact in the Palace hasn't been allowed out since that Japanese diplomat came to talk peacefully with the King."

Yesung sat up straighter. "If the Palace servants and nobles can't move around in or out of the Palace, there is something going on that the King doesn't want the citizens to know about."

Heechul nodded. "This is where we hope the gisaengs will help us." He said. "With the Lee/Choi wedding coming up in a few days, we were hoping that you would be able to get some information from one of the Palace people about what is going on."

Krystal shook her head. "We were not invited to the wedding celebration." She said. "Minister Lee has not been kind to us the last few years since his son started coming around. It's unfortunate we cannot help." She said. “In fact, we were expressly forbidden from sending any of the girls to the wedding as companions to the yangban’s who are unmarried.”

"Ah, now this is where we get sneaky." Yesung snapped his fingers. "We have Seungri, and we have the new shifter. I have been asked to help prepare the groom on the wedding day as Minister Lee wants things to go perfectly since the King will be attending."

Zhou Mi gasped, catching onto what Yesung was saying. "That is brilliant!" He said. "You take the girl with you, with permission of course." He said to Krystal. "And she goes and does her charms on some of the servants to get information."

Krystal nodded. “That is brilliant.” She breathed. “We haven’t introduced Victoria to the public yet, so her face and the fact she’s a gisaeng won’t be spread all over the city before the wedding.”

"And with Seungri being next to the young Lee's side, he can get information in another way." Ji Yong finished, a smile crossing his face.

The group all collectively let out a sigh at the solution to the events. Yeung nodded in satisfaction that the others had caught on quickly. "Where is she at the moment?" Ji Yong wondered. "She will need to be welcomed into the Clan as well, with your permission, of course."

Krystal thought for a moment. "Master Howie will have to be informed of everything since he technically owns us, but I am sure he would be ok with it. I know the codes require all shifters to belong to either Clan or Pack. I think Victoria is currently with Seungri and Master Howie learing how to conduct herself around others as a feline shifter."

Heechul rubbed his hands together. Things were certainly getting more and more complex. He only hoped that things wouldn’t escalate quicker than they could predict as he wasn’t sure that shifters would be able to survive if their secret got out.

**

The next few days progressed without any new shifter attacks, nor any other unwelcome surprises. Yesung found himself growing more restless the longer he went without hunting. He's been forbade by his alpha from hunting beccause of the importance of the wedding. Yesung gritted his teeth and tried to keep his irritation from showing the longer he had to deal with the haughty and arrogant noblility that came into his shop demanding new hanboks for the wedding, which was in 2 days.

His tolerance became thin, and as a last resort, he tapped into the stash of fermented beverages that he kept for the nobles. It took the edge off the restlessness and kept his wolf, Cloud, somewhat subdued. Having Victoria there during the day helped. She'd been introduced to the shop servants and had proved within the first hour that she was adept at dressing the nobility that came into the shop. He was more than grateful that she was also adept at sewing and could make a perfect hanbok in about the same time he could.

Yesung reminded himself that he needed to thank Krystal with lots of attendance at the gisaeng house once this horrid event was over. Normally Yesung liked weddings. It provided his shop with months of stable work, especially if the wedding was in the late spring or fall as the summer months found people less willing to stand in a stuffy hanbok shop trying on the heavier cloths needed for the cooler months once it got past mid-summer. He also had more than a week to size, make and tailor the hanboks to the person, which on a normal timeframe took about a month to do.

The first night Yesung dipped into the alcohol, it was nearing dawn and he still had to finish the hem line of the current hanbok order that had been made the day before, right when Yesung was about to close shop for the night. His wolf had been begging to go for a run, even though he knew that doing so would earn him the wrath of Kangin. It wasn't just Yesung who'd been banned from hunting. All shifters had been banned because of the influx of new people for the wedding.

His servants and slaves steered clear of him for several hours after that, and the worst part was Yesung came out of it with a horrid hangover, no finished hanbok from the night before, but his wolf was sleeping soundly, nestled in the back of his mind like a warm fuzzball of comfort. He’d be able to finish things up without snapping the head off of the next haughty high class idiot demanding a rushed hanbok.

"You need to sleep." Victoria said to him on the day before the wedding, noticing the dark circles under his eyes. Master Howie had given permission for her to come stay at the Merchant's shop to help him finish the 5 orders of hanbok that were the last of the wedding requests.

“Need to finish.” Yesung mumbled, eyes bleary as he stitched another hem line. Even exhausted, he still managed to sew a perfect line, proving he was a master at his craft.

Victoria laid a hand over Yesung’s hands, marveling at how soft they were even after all the frantic sewing they’d been doing over the past week. “I can finish, you sleep for a few hours, otherwise you won’t be fit for tomorrow.” She admonished softly, making sure that it sounded like a suggestion, and not a command. Most of the shifters Victoria had been introduced to were much stronger than she was, even though Ji Yong had promised he would work with her on that once the wedding was over with.

Yesung looked up from the hanbok, his eyes blinking blearily at her. “I suppose a few hours wouldn’t hurt….” Yesung’s eyes rolled up into the back of his head as he passed out from sheer exhaustion. Victoria barely caught him before his head hit the floor. Victoria took the hanbok gently out of his hands, already noting what was left to finish the garment and signaled for one of the servants to find a blanket to cover the sleeping shifter up. “Poor thing.” She murmured in Chinese, tucking the blanket around him as he sighed. Another cushion served as a makeshift pillow so he wouldn’t have a stiff neck when he woke up.


	8. Chapter 8

Yesung stretched unhurriedly. As he woke up, his brain registered that he’d been sleeping and he still had several hanbok to finish before the wedding. “AH!” He jerked up, anxiety already building in his system. Blinking the sleep out of his eyes, he looked around. ‘ _Looks like we fell asleep in the sewing room.’_ Cloud laughed.

Yesung shrugged mentally at Cloud, already throwing off the blanket that had been tucked around him. He could hear Victoria in the front of the shop, laughing and joking with someone, her voice not showing any anxiety at all.

Yesung stood, stretching again, his body protesting the movement. Judging by the light peeking into the window of the sewing room, he realized he must have slept through the night. That meant the wedding was today, and he needed to be in tip top shape to deal with everyone involved with the wedding. ' _Vicky says that your bath is drawn up and your clothes for today are already hanging out.'_ Cloud told him, amused. ' _She finished the last of the hanbok last night while you were asleep.'_

Yesung laughed. Jung Krystal had an ambitious and fast little shifter on her hands then if she'd finished 3 hanbok in record time. That meant the yangban in the front of the shop was happy and probably paying well for the rushed order.

He told Cloud to thank Victoria as he headed back to the bathing room to get ready for the wedding.

**

The Lee household was a frenzy of activity. The cooks had been busy since pre-dawn to start the feast that would be feeding the guests arriving for the wedding. Servants were rushing around adding tables and benches to the main celebration areas, setting up the pavilion covers over the tables to block the sunlight from overhead. Other servants were sweeping the courtyard areas and the walkways between the quarters to ensure that no dust would get in the way if a wind blew.

Donghae lay in his bed, listening to the sounds of the work going on outside. He’d been poked, prodded, tested and put on display this last week and while he’s exhausted from all the political posturing his family is doing with his wedding, he’s strangely calm about the whole affair. Choi Sulli had been groomed for being a Minister’s wife, although Donghae wasn’t sure he’d ever take over his father’s position in the Palace. He had yet to even take the government official exams to determine his place in public office. But his wife to be would be a stable pillar for him to lean on when he needed it before the exams, according to his parents.

Donghae exhaled slowly, letting his body relax. He knew he wouldn’t be going back to sleep, but it felt good to go into a meditative like state. He would need the familiar comfort of the meditative state later when he stood with his wife to be, taking the wedding rites and dealing with the extended families of both houses. Donghae frowned, thinking of the extended family members. Most of the Lee family in attendance had prepared for this wedding for over a month, many knowing that it didn’t matter whom he married, just that he was at the age to be married.

Overall the majority of the Lee family were humble, quiet people. Some were magistrates in smaller villages outside of the city, while others were clerks, or some even merchants of imported goods. Tea tended to be a good stable business for some, and he knew whenever he was in the presence of one of the tea masters because Seungri would sneeze and then apologize for his overly sensitive nose.

The thought of Seungri made Donghae pause. Ever since he’d come back from his stay at the doctor clinic, he’d been different. Donghae had assumed that the fall had disorientated the younger man at first because he seemed to be more cautious around others, but then Donghae realized that Seungri must have thought that whomever had attacked him on the road would come back after Donghae. It wasn’t uncommon for assassins to try to kill their target if they’d failed and not been discovered. It still frustrated Donghae that the assailants hadn’t been apprehended.

The security for the wedding ceremony had been beefed up as well, especially since they’d gotten word the night before that His Majesty would be in attendance with Her Majesty. It was a special occasion, according to the missive sent to the Lee and Choi households the night before. Donghae’s father hadn’t mentioned anything important, but Donghae assumed it had something to do with the current power struggle in the Palace. The fact that the King was stepping out of the Palace for the first time since the previous King had stepped down from the royal duties was a big deal.

Donghae shook himself mentally. He should be focusing on his wedding rites and what was to come that day instead of politics! All too soon he heard the familiar shuffle of footsteps on the wooden floor and knew that it was one of the servants come to wake him for the day. He sighed and sat up, wishing the day was already over with and that it was the next morning already.

“Young master, it is time to wake and ready for the wedding.” The servant said through the door.

**

The day dawned perfectly for a wedding. There were no rain clouds in the sky, nor a strong wind to ruin carefully constructed hairstyles. The actual wedding was to take place privately amongst the closest of the families with the King and Queen in attendance to give their blessings on the marriage.

Yesung had arrived at the pavilion where the wedding was taking place, Victoria and a few other servants in tow. They would be allowed to attend the celebration afterwards, both to toast to the bride and groom, as well as be given praise for the wonderful tailoring job done for the groom’s garment.

“Have your shifter be alert to any unusual smells or sounds.” Yesung schooled Victoria on their way to the pavilion. “Seungri has told us that the Choi’s have some shifters in their employ, but the only one he could sniff out was the girl who will be coming to the Lee household as Miss Choi’s maid.” He said.

Victoria nodded. “So if I am alerted to the scent of a shifter, what do you want me to do?” She asked.

“Find out who it is if possible.” Yesung said. “Make a note of the person if you can’t get a name. How tall they are, any distinct facial features like moles or a particularly groomed beard. If they are talking to members of the Lees or Choi’s.”

“Got it. Should I not have my feline communicate with the other shifter if they are sniffed out?” Victoria asked. 

“Don’t alert them to your presence as a shifter.” Yesung nodded. “The last thing we need is to spook any potential shifter and not get information.”

Heechul had heard from his contact in the Palace the day before the wedding when a serving boy had come looking for him. While the King and Queen were out of the palace, his contact would be out as well, one of the many servants that made up the retinue of the King and Queen who ensured both their Majesties safeties in both food, drink and guard. “The contact in the Palace knows to find me when she can, so if I disappear for a bit, don’t worry and enjoy yourself.” Yesung added as an afterthought.

The preparations for the wedding celebration were well managed by the time the Lee’s left for the pavilion. They would arrive first, followed shortly by the Choi’s. Any final adjustments for the bride and groom’s wedding garments would be done before they saw each other. Yesung stood back an hour later, his face smooth and calm. He had outdone himself with this wedding garment and probably would be the talk of the nobles for a few years before he outdid himself again at another Ministers' heir’s wedding.

Donghae stood stiffly in the garment, afraid of ruining the moment as Yesung ran an eye over the garment, taking a moment to adjust a ribbon here or there, or straighten a line that had become crooked.

The new servant girl Yesung had brought with him seemed to know Seungri well, Donghae noted, catching the little glances Seungri sent the girl’s way. Well it was about time he started thinking of a suitable wife for Seungri now that Donghae was getting married.

The internal banter between the two was mostly their felines talking about what to expect when the celebration started. Seungri wanted to make sure that Victoria knew what to do if she got into any problems and needed help.

"Ok, I think you are ready Young master." Yesung said finally, stepping back with a smile on his face.

Donghae smiled at the tailor merchant, grateful the man was fast and efficient at his job. Donghae swallowed, knowing what he was about to say would be displeasing to his father if he ever heard it. “Thank you Merchant Kim, for everything.” He said sincerely, looking at the older man.

Yesung sucked in a breath. He’d never had a yangban thank him for his work. In fact, it was practically unheard of for any male of a noble lineage to thank a merchant for their work. He found he was at a loss for words as he stared at the younger man, mouth gaping open unprofessionally.

Donghae smiled at the reaction he’d gotten from the Merchant. “Well, I suppose someone should let my father know I’m ready.” He said, the tension melting from him like water.

“I will go.” Seungri said, giving a bow.

After what seemed like an eternity, Seungri reappeared in the doorway, Minister Lee in tow.

“Ah, my son.” Minister Lee said, his face beaming brightly at his son. Even though he didn’t say it, he was proud of Donghae for taking this step. Granted, Minister Lee wasn’t wholly fond of Minister Choi, but it was a great advantage politically to align the Minister of War with the Minister of Justice in family bonds. The King had said in as much the last court session he’d attended. This would most likely be the last bit of happiness that they could give the King since the tensions with Japan were strung tight.

Donghae saw the unspoken pride in his father’s eyes. He felt a warm blossom of happiness in his chest at this sign of affection from his father. “Father.” He said formally, bowing carefully.

Donghae’s mother would not see him until he was at the center of the pavilion with his wife to be. They would meet at the entrance to the area before walking up to the Minister of Rites to recite the passages required for marriage.

Minister Lee escorted his son out of the room, Seungri immediately trailing after, followed by Yesung and Victoria. They stopped where Donghae would meet with Sulli before walking up the center walkway.

Minister Lee smiled at his son and clasped him about the shoulders, bringing Donghae’s attention to his face. “Today, my son, you take the next step in becoming a man.” He said, sounding a bit choked up.

It was the most emotion Donghae had seen or heard from his father since he’d past his first state exam to advance his studies. Donghae smiled nervously. When had he become nervous? Donghae wasn’t sure as he tried to intently listen to the words that his father was saying.

Donghae nodded at his father, who seemed satisfied at the action. He’d known his son would become more nervous, and today it showed. He gave Donghae a last squeeze on the shoulders before he signaled to Seungri, Yesung and Victoria to follow him to the pavilion.

Now alone, Donghae felt the heaviness of the wedding hanbok on his shoulders. He tried to channel his nervousness into meditating. It wouldn’t be long before his wife to be would be in front of him. Hearing soft footsteps, Donghae opened his eyes, and gasped in shock.


	9. Chapter 9

The moment the scent of a wolf hit Yesung’s nose, Victoria and Seungri were both standing up, turned toward the door to the pavilion. A few seconds later, a loud masculine voice screamed in agony. ‘ _Shit! Donghae!’_ All three shifters simultaneously thought, Seungri reacting the quickest and leaping over the benches to the center walkway and down toward the door.

Donghae heaved the attacker off him, but not before the lanky man had ripped the fabric of his wedding hanbok. ‘ _Well, that’s not good.’_ Donghae thought, seeing the blood welling up from the cut.

Pain blossomed in his arm. “What did you do?” Donghae yelled, doubling over in pain.

The man had blood splattered all over his clothing, a feral grin on his face. He said something that Donghae identified as Japanese before the pain tripled in intensity.

The door burst open as Donghae fell to his knees, gripping his arm in pain. Seungri took one glance at Donghae and _knew_. Donghae had been attacked by the rogue shifter. “Where’s your companion?” Seungri sneered, hackles rising as the acrid scent of a crazy wolf burned his nose. He wished he hadn’t left the wolfsbane in the room where Donghae had gotten ready.

“Donghae!” The others rushed into the corridor. Yesung grabbed a hold of Donghae, eyes widening. “Someone go check on the Choi’s!” He yelled. “Donghae, can you hear me?”

Donghae didn’t even care that the merchant had used his name as his eyes rolled up in the back of his head, losing consciousness.

  **

Victoria gaped at the man whom they assumed attacked Donghae. “He’s a Japanese!” She screamed in Korean, not caring what the consequences were. Seungri’s hands itched, wishing he had a sword or something to threaten the attacker with. The King’s guards suddenly showed up behind the attacker, their weapons drawn.

“Donghae! Young master! Wake up!” Yesung’s voice caught the attention of others who weren’t staring down the attacker. “Shit!” Yesung swore. “We need a doctor! Someone go get the Herb Merchant Kim!” He threw the command towards someone standing just outside his vision.

The scene was total chaos. Yesung could smell the insanity rolling off the rogue wolf in waves. Someone else had come running back to report that most of the Choi’s were fine, they’d been in a different room when Donghae had been attacked. There was no mention of Choi Sulli being ok, but at that moment, Yesung only cared about Donghae.

‘ _Is he…?’_ Yesung knew that Cloud had relayed the question from Seungri’s feline.

‘ _He’s been infected.’_ Yesung closed his eyes, a tightness in his chest as all breath seemed to leave his body.

“You bastard!” Seungri jerked forward, only to be held back by Victoria.

“ _Don’t, or our secret will be exposed!”_ Victoria whispered so softly to Seungri that he stopped unconsciously to listen.

‘ _Ha, you think so…it is only a matter of time before its exposed, little witch!’_ The rogue wolf snarled at Victoria in Japanese. ‘ _Stupid little kitty doesn’t see the chaos she’s caused by coming to this forsaken land. You bring Japanese victory with your malice!’_

Victoria growled at the insults the wolf threw at her. She was glad in a sense that no one present at the moment could understand Japanese. She refused to acknowledge his taunts. Victoria didn’t want to expose the fact she could speak the language to the non-shifters in the area.

Events moved quickly as the command to subdue the attacker came down from the King, Heechul arrived before the Pack doctor, and started pulling herbs out of various places on his person, as others moved to give them space. Yesung told Heechul through his wolf what had happened.

‘ _Has anyone thought to look in on the bride?’_ Heechul’s wolf, Chocoball asked Yesung as they worked on Donghae.

‘ _Someone said that the Choi’s were ok.’_ Yesung had Cloud reply.

“Someone needs to go see if the Choi’s are really ok, and what they want to do since the groom is injured on his wedding day.” Heechul said to the group of people clustered about the area with nothing important to do.

Some random guard shouted he would do it, and ran off. Heechul could feel a massive headache coming on along with a sense of dread. Whomever was coordinating the shifter attacks on the innocent people in Hanyang, they knew to use foreign shifters. The minutes ticked by as Heechul managed to stop the trickle of blood seeping out from the scratch in Donghae’s arm. He knew that the younger man wouldn’t be waking up until he bonded with his wolf and shifted for the first time, but they would have to get him out safely either to another room or to the Pack’s shifting house first.

Heechul’s shoulders sagged in relief as the guard came back to tell them that the wife to be was safe and sound with her family, and that they would be ok waiting for Donghae to wake up. Yesung groaned internally, wishing the Packs’ doctor would hurry up and get there already.

“Why isn’t he waking up?” Minister Lee asked, coming to check on his son.

“We don’t know. Maybe the shock of the attack and the nerves from the wedding?” Heechul tried to give Minster Lee a decent answer. ‘ _No, your son will now be a werewolf and hunt for raw meat and fresh blood for the rest of his days.’_ Is what Heechul wanted to retort in surprise anger. He never got angry, but the stress from the last month of dealing with new shifters, the arrival of Victoria, and his other normal life duties were starting to irritate him. ‘ _It’s ok.’_ Chocoball was a warm comfort to Heechul, already simmering down his growing anger and dulling the headache that had come on.

It seemed forever before the Pack doctor arrived, having been at the Pack house for another reason entirely and had only gotten the message through communications with the network of shifters who worked for the Pack doctor. Once he’d gotten a grasp of the situation from both Heechul and Yesung, he quietly took aside Minister Lee and Minister Choi after a brief, but telling check of Donghae’s unconscious form. “I’m afraid that the Young master won’t wake up for a couple days at most.” He said, sounding apologetic. “I am sure he would be ok with the wedding proceeding without him?”

Minister Lee looked at Minister Choi and shrugged. There was no point to delay the celebration with just the wife, but they would have to get permission from the King and Queen first to use a substitute for Donghae, and then Sulli if she was ok with the change.

“We will have to ask His Majesty….” Minister Lee started when a call for the doctor to quickly attend Donghae reached their ears.

“Quickly, let’s get him into a private room. He may be waking up and we’ll need calm and order to reorient him to what happened.” The doctor said, giving an imperceptible nod to Yesung and Heechul, both whom hadn’t left the unconscious man’s side.

A door was flung open, and a couple other people helped lift Donghae from the floor and into the room. The pack doctor ordered supplies to be brought, including a change of clothes for Donghae. Yesung told Cloud to communicate with Victoria and Seungri to keep people away from the room as the doctor ordered no one else but the two men to stay away from the room for a bit.

“Why should we do that?” Lady Lee asked, her face still pale from the commotion.

“If the Young master wakes up and sees a crowd of people, he may get confused or disoriented from the commotion of people fussing over him.” The doctor replied, bowing in apology to the noblewoman. “I assure that you will be the first to know when he wakes up.” He said.

The door closed quietly behind Seungri as he heard the first growls of a shift in progress through the door. He glanced at Victoria, sensing that she’d heard something from the rogue shifter right after the attack. Glancing around, he sighed, seeing that no one would be within earshot as they were currently attending the King’s interrogation of the rogue wolf. “What did that smelly mutt say to you?”

“It was nothing but insults.” Victoria smiled up at Seungri, noting how light his eyes had become since she’d arrived in Hanyang. “Don’t worry about it.” She said, giving him a reassuring pat on the shoulder. The scent of worry lightened a little as Seungri nodded.

Victoria internally sighed in relief. She was afraid of what the rogue wolf had said, and wondered if any of her old Clan were in on this scheme. ‘ _I doubt that.’_ Her feline said, sounding worried. ‘ _Also I decided to be known as V to the others. It makes things easier.’_

The relief that V would be her feline’s new name was palpable. ‘ _Why do you doubt any of the old clan are involved?’_ She thought.

‘ _The magick performed on us was done by a Japanese coven.’_ V replied. ‘ _He must have sensed it when we came in to defend Seungri’s master.’_

Victoria was careful not to let her scent give away her shock. No one knew what she’d been through in China, her official story being that she’d been born there, raised in an area that saw a lot of trading between the people of Japan, China and Joseon, which was how she’d learned Korean and Japanese.

The truth was, Victoria had been kidnapped as a child from her home in on the outskirts of the capital in China and then given the ‘gift’ of shifting before she really knew what was going on. Of course, at the age she’d been turned, seeing the people around her suddenly turn into various species of feline had delighted her, so when they’d asked if she wanted to be like the other kitties, she’d said yes immediately, not knowing what was in store for her after the change happened.

Once she’d gotten used to the pain of shifting, Victoria had then been brought to a special house where only certain beautiful women lived, and started being taught in the ways of the gisaeng, as well as the other 2 languages she knew. Her childhood had been over the moment she’d felt the pain of shifting, but the moment her virginity had been sold to the leader of the Clan by the House Mother, she’d learned the true meanings behind the gisaeng teachings of avoiding unnecessary emotions. The pain of shifting had nothing on the pain she’d experienced during her first sexual encounter with the leader. She’d come back to the gisaeng house 3 days after being escorted there by the second in command of the clan with cuts and bruises that had been given just a few hours before she’d been told to leave the house.

Then she’d been whipped for allowing her body to be marred in such a way, even though the cuts had healed by the time she’d been stripped and whipped by the house mother for sullying the gisaeng name. After that, Victoria had become nothing more than another gisaeng at the house, whereas before she’d been considered a gift and treated specially by the house mother. The jealousy of the other girls in the house had disappeared the moment she’d come back from the leader’s house, most of them giving her pity filled glances while others helped her with simple tasks at first because of how stiff and sore she was.

Victoria sensed that something in the room had changed while she’d been reflecting on her past. ‘ _Did he shift?’_ She had V ask D.

‘ _Yes.’_ The reply came back, surprise in V’s tone.

Seungri nodded at the same time V repeated D’s response. “They are saying it’s the fastest anyone’s shifted since the first Pack leader showed up in Hanyang.” Seungri whispered.

Inside the room, Yesung and Heechul both had a hard time keeping Donghae down. There hadn’t been any time for either of them to dive into Donghae’s mind to keep him calm to help the bonding process along. “I can’t believe he’s shifting this fast.” Heechul panted, sweat trickling down his face.

“Do you think he’s going loup?” Yesung asked the Pack doctor.

“Under the circumstances, I wouldn’t be surprised if he did go loup.” The doctor replied, a frown on his face.

Yesung paled. Going loup was bad. Very bad. In the normal process of a first time shift, the person already knew what he or she was getting into. This is why they’d been trying desperately to find the rogue wolf who was attacking innocent people. Most of the shifters in the Packs and Clan had willing chosen to be changed, or had been born as a shifter. Those who were unknowingly changed had a low survival rate. Going loup meant that the human had rejected the animal outright and the animalistic part of the virus that caused shifting took over the body in an attempt to survive, which caused the human mind to go crazy. Those who went loup ended up in a twisted half-human, half-animal form, claws tearing at their own skin in order to relieve the pain from the half-shift.

It hadn’t even been an hour since Donghae was attacked and he was already midway through his first shift. They wouldn’t know if he was going loup until he opened his eyes, or if he had accepted his new form and shifted completely into his animal form.

A spasm caught Yesung under the chin, knocking the man backwards, the black and purple bruise already formed. “Damn that hurt!” Yesung shook his head, collecting himself.

The doctor paced back and forth as Yesung went back over to hold Donghae’s half furry form down. Time seemed to slow again for them as they waited to see what would happen.

Another tuff of fur sprouted along what Heechul assumed was a foot. “More fur.” He called out, giving the doctor an update. If this went on much longer, the wedding would be ruined and the Lee’s would be looked at with distrust. Heechul didn’t care much for the political jockeying the nobles did on a daily basis, but he knew that the loss of Donghae would be a huge blow to the family.

Yesung’s yelp of excitement brought Heechul’s thoughts back to the task at hand. More fur had spouted…in fact…Heechul looked up at an excited Yesung as the body of a dark grey werewolf lay quietly in their arms. “He didn’t go loup.” Heechul breathed, feeling relief flooding his body.

Donghae’s new form was massive. “I think he’s bigger than Hyukjae.” Yesung murmured. “I hope he’s not stronger though….we don’t need a new pack succession so early after the Conclave.”

The doctor examined Donghae in his new form while Yesung released the younger male’s paws and slumped over, exhausted. Heechul sat quietly with the new werewolf’s head in his lap, passively stroking the back of the younger’s head soothingly. “He shifted fine.” The doctor said. “Now he just needs to shift back.”

Heechul nodded. He leaned down and whispered into the wolf’s ear. “It’s time for your human to come back to the world. He’s needed.”

The sigh that came from the wolf huffed over Heechul’s face lightly as the body relaxed. The first return from a shift would be painful but not as long as the initial shifting took. They only had to wait a few minutes before Donghae’s naked body was laying there, sweat glistening off his chest from the exertion the body had been put through. “Well, the cut healed nicely.” Heechul mentioned, grinning up at Yesung, who’d started repairing the damage done to the wedding garment.

The doctor fussed over Donghae even more after he’d changed back to human form. Heechul waited patiently, telling Chocoball to inform Seungri and Victoria that Donghae had fully shifted and they were just waiting for him to wake up.

“He’s clean.” The doctor announced, putting a piece of cloth over Donghae’s nakedness. He then pinched a sensitive spot on Donghae’s chest, causing the young man to gasp while sitting straight up, eyes wide and hands flying up to protect himself.


	10. Chapter 10

Donghae gasped as the pain of being pinched pushed him in to consciousness. “What the?” He demanded, realizing first that he was naked, and second, there was a warm fuzzy feeling inside his head. ‘ _Calm down.’_ The warm fuzzy feeling was it the wolf he’d encountered in that strange dream he’d just had? and…”The wedding!” Donghae groaned. “Don’t tell me it’s over with?” He recognized Yesung sitting a ways from his feet, _naked feet_ , and working on what looked like his wedding garment while….Donghae twisted around, feeling a warmth at his back. The man behind him was the Herb Merchant and….a short hairy man with spectacles was glancing at him approvingly, a smile on his face.

“Glad to see you are awake Young master.” The man said, reaching over to give Donghae a cup of what smelled suspiciously like alcohol. “The wedding was postponed until you woke, which it’s only been an hour.” He said. “I am a doctor, a very special doctor, and you will find out why in a moment once your senses come back.” The doctor fussed over him while he talked, then pushed the cup toward Donghae’s face. “Drink up my boy. You’ll need it to get through the rest of today.”

Donghae reluctantly lifted the cup to his lips, wondering about the quirkiness to the doctor. He reminded Donghae of a grandfather like figure with how fussy and talkative he was. The alcohol hit his lips and suddenly he remembered _everything_. The attacker as he stood waiting outside the pavilion, the scratch on his arm, the _pain_. How could Donghae have forgotten the gut wrenching pain? But new memories were surfacing. The feeling of his body being stretched and positioned in a way that _hurt everywhere_ and the warm fuzzy feeling in the back of his head that translated….”What am I?” Donghae gasped, choking on the last bit of the alcohol that had burned going down his throat.

“You are now what we call a shape shifter, or shifter for short.” The Herb Merchant said, moving so that he could see Donghae’s face. “We are the supernatural things that frighten children into staying indoors at night, but we’re not really that scary. We are werewolves.”

Yesung snorted. “Stop being so dramatic hyung.” He said, his eyes focused on the garment. “You’re going to scare the poor boy.”

Heechul wanted to throw something at Yesung. “You ruin the fun.” He complained.

Yesung smirked. “Someone has to keep your mangy butt in line.”

That did it. Donghae watched in amazement as a cushion came out of nowhere to hit Yesung square in the face. “Behave pup.” Heechul warned. “I may not be Pack, but I am stronger than you.”

Yesung only brushed aside the cushion, going back to sewing the last few stitches into the material. Luckily there hadn’t been much blood from Donghae’s wound, so there was very little staining. He was suddenly glad that the Lee’s had insisted on a dark red color for the wedding garment. “Yes abeoji.” He said, teasing, but sounding serious at the same time.

Heechul smirked. “Good pup.”

Donghae watched the exchange in wonder, seeing a new side to both Merchants. “So, what do you mean by shifter?”

Heechul turned his gaze back at Donghae. “You have a warm fuzzy feeling in the back of your head right?” Donghae nodded. Heechul smiled. “That is your wolf form.”

Donghae stilled. So that hadn’t been a dream. The warmth shifted, growing more comforting like a favorite blanket. “So the grey wolf I saw is real?”

“Yes.” Heechul nodded. He really wasn’t good at this new shifter thing since he’d been born into the Pack and had been happy to go through his first shifting, which had made the process easier.

The doctor pushed another cup into Donghae’s hands. “This one is for the aches of shifting.”

Donghae didn’t hesitate this time with downing the drink. The doctor must have laced the drink with more alcohol because Donghae relaxed, feeling something akin to liquid warmth flowing down his arms and legs. “I’m ok though, not contagious?”

Yesung laughed. “Goodness no. If we were contagious the whole world would be shifters.” He said, bringing the garment back to Donghae. “I’ve fixed the tear from your attack. Luckily there was minimal blood so there is no evidence.”

Donghae realized the wedding must be on hold for him. He started to rise, only to have Heechul push him down. “Seungri has already called for your parents. Quickly before they arrive, take a deep sniff through your nose and tell us what you find.”

Donghae though the request odd, but did as asked. An odd acidic smell assaulted his nose, causing him to cough, his nose itching. “It’s an odd smell that is like acidic or sour.” He said.

Heechul smiled. “Good. That’s the smell of a canine shape shifter. It’s usually a bit sharper but the drinks you had were laced with an herb that will dull those senses for today. Don’t tell anyone about this. We would prefer not to be run out of town because we are considered freaks.” Heechul warned. “You’ll be fine tonight and tomorrow, but on the 3 day, we will have Seungri bring you to the Lee Pack house to start your training as a new shifter. You will have to be accepted into the Lee Pack as well. No shifter is allowed to be without a Pack.”

“Heechul is the only exception.” Yesung added, not bothering to be formal with Donghae since he was now a shifter. “But only because he deals in Herbs and other medicines.”

“Why Seungri?” Donghae asked, absorbing the new information quietly.

“We’ll let him tell you.” Yesung said, raising his eyebrows at Heechul. It was one thing to speak of someone else, but to spill their secret was another.

Donghae didn’t miss the look between the two Merchants. “Ok.” He knew they were hiding something from him.

The door opened just as Yesung was helping Donghae back into a spare set of undergarments. Donghae had been strangely unabashed at his total state of nakedness once he realized that he must have been stripped to aid in the shifting process. He was a bit stiff, and still a little sore when his mother rushed in, crying about how she was so thankful that her son was ok.

“Mother, I’m fine.” Donghae smiled calmly at her. “It was nothing really. The shock of the attack must have overloaded my senses is all.”

**

This time Seungri stood with Donghae at the entrance to the pavilion, where the mess from the attacker had been cleaned up and fresh decorations had replaced the broken ones. There had been no room for slacking when Minister Lee had ordered Seungri to protect Donghae fiercely so that the wedding could proceed.

“So, do you have something kept hidden that you aren’t telling me?” Donghae asked, waiting for Sulli to appear down the hallway. The Choi’s had though the wedding postponed till another day because of the attack and had been in the process of packing up Sulli’s wedding garment when it was announced the wedding would proceed as planned.

Seungri gulped. “Well, yeah but it should wait until after the wedding Young master.” Seungri said weakly. “We can discuss it in detail when I take you to the Pack house.”

Donghae had a sinking feeling that Seungri was a shifter too, by the way he pronounced the word Pack. The herbs he’d drank earlier had worked their effect on his nose already, so he couldn’t just lean over and sniff Seungri could he? Donghae shook his head. No, that wouldn’t be proper to sniff his guard in the middle of the hallway, especially when Sulli could pop around the corner at any moment. He sighed and decided to ignore the issue for now. He’d find out sooner or later anyway and that was worth thinking about more than the anticipation for what would happen on his wedding night.

Sulli chose that moment to come around the corner, her own wedding garment paired perfectly to match his in color. Her bridal ribbon almost seemed bigger than her face, until Donghae realized that Sulli must have been preparing for the wedding since he’d last seen her, which was more than a month ago.

Seungri stepped back as Sulli approached. “My lady.” He bowed, already showing her deference as the wife of his master.

Sulli barely gave him a glance as she locked eyes on Donghae, a smile upon her face. The people who’d come with Sulli patted her on the shoulder before going ahead into the pavilion. They were breaching etiquette by having Seungri stand guard, but the Minster of Rites has approved the change in protocol so that there were no more surprises.

Donghae felt no love, no warmth for the lady in front of him. He’d known from the moment she’d been chosen as his bride that it was nothing more than a political match and that once he got an heir on her, he could discreetly chose someone to become emotionally attached to while she enjoyed the role of being his wife. “Ready?”

Sulli gave a barely perceivable nod. The doors opened in front of them, leading straight to the center of the room. Seungri held back long enough to ensure that things were clear before he followed the pair.

“Here we are, ready to hear the rites of marriage that these two fine young people have chosen to take with one another…” The Minister of Rites launched straight into the ceremony.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this may be the last chapter update for a few weeks. I have 3 college papers, one of them this week and the other 2 due in 2 weeks along with a final essay exam to culminate the spring semester at the university. I say maybe because I know at some point I'll probably slack off and work on the next chapter of the story.
> 
> On that note, I hope everyone is enjoying the story so far! Please feel free to let me know how I'm doing, as feedback helps me improve both my writing process and the story!


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Took a much needed break in the middle of one of my papers to write out this chapter, so sorry it's a bit short. Right now I'm in a lull between papers so I'm working on chapter 12, but may not have that one up till next week or so as there is a small science fiction/fantasy convention going on this weekend that I'm attending. I get to meet Carrie Vaughn, who is famous for her Kitty novels and writes in the were-wolf genre so I'm going to try and get some pointers from her (maybe she'll read this story who knows?) but anyway so that's what's going on. OH and Leeteuk's discharge date was finally revealed!!! July 29!! whoohoo!!!

A heady scent filled the house, mixing in with the smells of people, cooking food, and a slight stench of sweat. In the main room of the house, a group of women sat in a perfect circle, eyes closed and hands joined as their humming echoed softly around the room. In the center of the circle sat a young woman, quietly rocking back and forth to the humming. Her eyes were closed and arms stretched out to each side as if to embrace something in front of her. Outside of the circle, the women's hanboks were all neatly hung, waiting for when they were ready to go back out into the real world. A servant girl dashed quietly around the outside of the circle, ensuring that each woman was sitting with her back straight.

Another servant girl walked behind the other, stopping to smooth out a stray hair on one of the women in the circle. The entire process had been carefully planned and meticulously practiced by everyone. Not a single mistake was to be made this night, the consequences too dire for anyone to speak of them.

“Yes…” The woman in the middle of the circle hissed, her fingers stretched out similar to a cat stretching his paws. “It happens as the Mother promised….”

The atmosphere in the room grew darker, colder, yet warmer with the statement. Sitting in a far corner of the room, a girl was carefully concealed behind a screen so she wouldn’t be hit with all the effects of the room. The grin that spread across her face betrayed her innocent looks.

The longer the ceremony went on, the more and more sure the girl was that this would work. The stench of sweat grew as the women channeled their energies into the woman in the circle. ‘ _Just a bit more…’_ The girl thought gleefully, practically tasting victory in the air.

The sound of doors slamming open and loud voices jolted the girl out of her reverie. “ _NO!_ ” She cried, her voice too powerful to be stopped as the word was ripped from her throat.

The concentration of the circle collapsed, the woman in the middle choking suddenly and falling over, her lifeless eyes staring into nothing as the women in the circle screamed as they broke apart. The primal life force that they had been channeling backfired, the power of the force enough to knock several of them against walls. “Arrest them all!” A male voice cried.

The girl in the corner of the room was slumped over, blood trickling down a corner of her mouth.

There was chaos as the city guards burst into the room, surprising many of the women who’d managed not to be knocked out by the backfiring of the spell they’d been performing. Screams permeated the air. Women struggled as they were bound up in red ropes that signified they were being arrested. One man in a guard uniform knelt down at the head of the dead woman, shaking his head as he felt for any signs of life. “This one’s dead!” He called out.

“There’s another one back here, alive!” Another guard called out, dragging the screen away so she could be seen.

“A little girl.” The disgust in the guard’s voice was palpable. “Be gentle with her, but she gets arrested as well.”

“But…” The guard next to the girl protested.

“It doesn’t matter her age. She was involved in this evildoing.” The first guard said, arms crossed. “Everyone involved is to be arrested and interrogated as per the Magistrates orders!” He commanded.

“Yes sir!” The others saluted, the reminder of why they were there reinforced. The house was cleared quickly, the dead taken away to be disposed of, but only after their heads had been chopped off. Rumors claimed a heretic witch could come back to life if her head was still attached, even though no one had ever seen it happen, but no one wanted to find out if the rumors were true, so they kept chopping the heads off the dead witches before disposing of the body and head separately. The ones arrested would be put on trial, found guilty for disobeying the King’s laws and then beheaded.

**

While the Lee/Choi wedding was going on, the King had given his orders to his secret guards to carry out missions to protect the crown, including breaking up the witches who had managed to infiltrate the city without the shifters being alerted to their presence. The king didn’t know they were actual witches, only suspected. The interrogation of the man who had attacked Lee Donghae had been short lived. The man had bitten his own tongue off to prevent the King from getting any information about the possibility of a Japanese invasion out of him.

With the wedding finally going off without any more problems, the King hoped there wouldn’t be any more surprises at the celebration. He was becoming more paranoid about the Japanese since one of their ships had been spotted just off the eastern coast a month ago.

The King felt the hand of his wife slip into his with ease, squeezing his hand gently as if she knew the thoughts that were keeping him preoccupied during the wedding and after as they rode to the Lee household.

“Just relax and enjoy the rest of the day.” His Queen said, staring straight ahead. “Our troubles can wait a few hours before we attack them again.”

The reminder that it was supposed to be a day of enjoyment didn't do much to relax the King. The rest of the ride was silent, both people absorbed in their own thoughts, not knowing that their days together were numbered.


	12. Chapter 12

Kim Yujin paced the room, her feline half barely under control. She was _pissed_. Uee, as that was the name of her feline half, was content to let Yujin stay in control, but if the situation got any worse, Uee would be forced to come out, and no one wanted to see the angry shifter change into her feline form. Yujin commanded respect as the second leader in her Clan, but this….this was, as Uee put it, _utterly nonsensical and maddening_ and Yujin felt her fingernails lengthen the longer she seethed at the whole mess of the situation.

The four shifters on their knees cowered in front of her. She’d arrived in Hanyang just that day, expecting Zhou Mi to be preoccupied, but not with _these idiots_. The echoing sound of her feline was barely concealed in her voice as she spoke. “I hope your Clan leader cuts your balls off for dinner.” She growled at the four, feeling her feline half take pleasure at the sight of the four shifters shaking in fear at her. Their scents proved they were scared out of their wits, one had already wet himself in fear, the smell only now starting to fade.

“YA!” Ji Yong exclaimed, walking into the room with Zhou Mi in tow, the latter’s head down. “You’ve scared the piss out of them!” He said while looking at Yujin, his feline showing through the almost feral grin plastered on his face.

Yujin pierced Ji Yong with an icy stare. Zhou Mi felt Ji Young shiver. He knew that when Yujin got pissed it was a bad affair. Sooner or later her feline would decide enough is enough and forcefully shift into her even more beautifully frightening feline form.

Ji Yong, on the other hand, while feeling cold shivers down his spine at Yujin’s icy stare, also felt a sudden flair of appreciation for her. ‘ _She’s beautiful._ ’ His feline, Gaho purred in the back of his mind.

Ji Yong could feel the attraction Gaho had to Yujin. He cleared his throat, pretending that the female shifter’s icy stare didn’t affect him. He stared down at the four shifters cowering on the floor. From what he heard of the situation, the moment Yujin had walked into the Clan’s guest house, one of them had immediately declared her to be the sexiest shifter he’d ever seen, and that she would look even sexier in his bed, naked. The second shifter had tried to get a good sniff of her scent, the third had been egging on the second one and begging for details of her scent, and the fourth shifter had practically begged her to kiss him.

Zhou Mi had been sitting in the living area of the guest house when it had all happened, going to get Ji Yong the moment Yujin growled against the sudden invasion of her private space. He felt his lips curving into a grin as he watched his second staring down Ji Yong. He’d bet his finest piece of pottery that by the end of this whole thing, Ji Yong would be totally smitten with the young shifter.

By the time Ji Yong was done yelling at the shifters for their indiscretion at being polite to an esteemed member of Zhou Mi’s clan, Yujin had calmed down considerably. She hated to admit it to her shifter, but she was impressed with how Ji Yong handled his clan members. ‘ _His body’s not bad either.’_ Uee murmured in the back of her head. Yujin heard the slight tremor of desire in her feline’s voice.

‘ _We have a job to do first, then we can play._ ’ Yujin reminded Uee, smirking internally as she felt her feline shudder in anticipation of the game they would undoubtedly be playing once this whole rogue shifter attacker was taken care of.

“So, where are you in the investigation?” Yujin asked Zhou Mi after she’d properly greeted him and the house had been cleared of the other shifters.

Ji Yong had excused himself as well, claiming he had some new protocols to iron out with Daesung. The medical shifter had been happy to have a reprieve from the carnage of the last 3 shifter attacks that had happened in a village not far from Hanyang. They hadn’t gone well, forcing the quiet doctor to euthanize the 3 youths who’d gone loup.

Zhou Mi told Yujin where he was in the investigation and how frustrating it was to not know where or when the next attack would be. He had one of the Pack’s messengers report to him any time there was a canine shifter attack, and he would report back to the Pack if there was a feline shifter attack. The groups needed to band together even more now that the threat of the Japanese was becoming a reality as Yujin was telling him.

Yujin recounted with sadness in her melodic voice that the ships that had been distant off the coast of Joseon had been close to making landfall when Zhou Mi had summoned her. “I’m sure that they’ve landed by now.”

“This is something that the leaders should know.” Zhou Mi said. “We don’t even know what’s going on inside the palace right now because of the last envoy the Japanese had sent.”

So they sent out the missives informing the Packs to prepare to go deep into hiding to prevent the Japanese from find them. If needed, they could escape into one of the more mountainous regions of Joseon in an old hideout that one of their scouts had found for such a purpose. It would be a tight fit to get all three Packs and the various factions of the Clan in the hideout, but they’d have to manage.

The threat of being exposed to the whole world to be persecuted and then executed was enough to keep most of the newly shifted people from squealing they were able to transform into animals. Sometimes they’d have one or two kids who’d gone insane slowly over time who’d say something to someone, but usually it was while they were in the gisaeng house and under the careful eye of Jung Krystal. It made for nasty business sometimes to clean up, but it wasn’t like they could predict if someone slowly went insane.

Yujin skirted around Ji Yong whenever they were in the same house on business, not wanting to tempt her feline with the growing attraction between them. She was sure the alpha feline was avoiding her as well, his visits were timed so that he would arrive as she was leaving to check out a lead that usually ended up being a bust. Uee kept unusually quiet about their attraction to the lean Clan leader. Yujin was so focused on the investigation that when she and Ji Yong were in the same room together for a meeting of the leaders, Yujin suddenly had a hard time controlling Uee and preventing herself from touching the alpha.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again another short chapter, sorry! Between the convention this past weekend and the papers due for university I think my brain is pooped, though I got some good tips in writing at the con from famed writer Carrie Vaughn (she writes the supernatural were-wolf Kitty series) when she read from the newest book Low Midnight which is due out in Dec and talked a bit about her writing process. Anyway...so yeah, let me know what you think! I promise the next chapter goes much faster....and a little bit steamy in the process....*smirk*


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So apparently I've just discovered the whole skinship/fan service videos on Youtube...which is sort of how this chapter got started....only....well lets just say I wrote something a heck of a lot more steamy than I intended for the old Joseon period of this series (I blame it on the video of Heechul kissing Kyuhyun for like 15 secs!) but ended up going with a much more milder version for the chapter I'm posting.

It was before Yujin arrived that word had arrived from the Lee Pack that Donghae had been attacked by the rogue canine shifter at his wedding. It was one part of why the leaders were all meeting a few days later, the other being the information that Yujin had brought with her when she’d arrived in Hanyang.

Lee Hyukjae could smell the attraction between Ji Yong and Yujin the moment he stepped into the meeting house. Even with the threat of the Japanese on the coast, it was almost a relief to him to see that nature was attempting to assert itself between the two powerful shifters, even if it looked like they were ignoring it.

Suddenly Hyukjae’s senses were assaulted by the warm, spicy smell of Park Leeteuk, who was Cho Kyuhyun’s second, walking into the room. He could feel his wolf Eunhyuk absorbing the unique scent of the other shifter, basking in the warm of it. Their eyes met briefly across the room, the spicy scent spiking suddenly as Hyukjae realized that Eunhyuk could sense the attraction between Yujin and Ji Yong and that he might just be putting his own pheromones out for the older male to pick up. It hadn’t been that long since the Conclave, but Hyukjae basked in the warmth of the bond that he and Leeteuk had formed after the fact.

There were no Pack codes against an alpha of one pack being involved with a second of another pack, though generally it rarely happened. Even if the Packs were not on good terms with each other, special exceptions had been made in the past concerning such arraignments, especially when Pack populations were low and the second of a Pack was a female instead of male.

No one knew yet that Hyukjae and Leeteuk were together, but if the threat against Joseon became real, everyone would find out eventually if they were going to be holed up in that god-awful hideout that Kangin’s scout had found.

The meeting started, the information about the attack on Lee Donghae recounted for those who didn’t know, along with the fact that the attacker had been Japanese, making Zhou Mi and Yujin’s job of searching for the rogues that much harder to conduct. Hyukjae felt a pair of eyes on him as he concentrated on the meeting. It wouldn’t do for one of the Pack leaders to not be paying attention to an important meeting that could possibly change their lives. The topic turned from Donghae to the threat of the Japanese.  Kangin had sent a runner out to fetch Donghae to give his perspective on what had happened that morning at his wedding.

Kyuhyun had been quietly absorbing the information presented at the meeting. He knew he was the youngest Pack leader, and the most inexperienced as well. Kyuhyun hadn't wanted to become a Pack leader, being forced into the position has forced responsibility on him, and made him want to cower under a rock in order to avoid that responsiblity. Kyuhyun hated responsibilty, had avoided every chance he could to run away from the very obvious hints that Kibum had sent his way before suddenly handing the pack over to him and disappearing without warning.

It dawned on Kyuhyun that the solution to his problem was right in front of him. He could choose to give up his right as an alpha to one of the other Pack leaders, similar to how Kibum had forced Kyuhyun into the role. With the impending threat of the Japanese, he probably could fake ignorance of how Pack codes operate under emergency situations and force either Kangin or Hyukjae to absorb his oddball pack into their own.

In fact, he realized he was about to anounce his intention to abdicate his Pack, his wolf agreeing wholeheartedly, when he noticed that all eyes were trained on the doorway. Where a very confused and yet commanding shifter stood in the doorway, smiling sheepishly at them. Kyuhyun felt himself knee jerk unconsciously as his eyes slid over the defined facial features of the newcomer. The way his dark eyes surveyed the room, the obvious deference to Kangin and Hyukjae, and the sudden curious yet piercing stare he directed at Kyuhyun that left the alpha breathless.

Without warning, and to the shock and surprise of every single person in the room, Kyuhyun felt his wolf take control of his body if only to growl out in desire. “ _Mate.”_

All movement in the room froze. It was the first time anyone could remember an alpha announcing his mate in a public setting. Hyukjae frowned _. ‘Had Kibum not taught Kyuhyun anything about being an alpha?’_ Eunhyuk asked him, excitement in his voice.

‘ _I don’t think so.’_ Hyukjae thought, judging by the knee jerk reaction Kyuhyun had just done.

It only took a few seconds for Donghae to register what the tall dark-eyed man with soft features was saying. His own wolf, whom he’d affectionately named Bada, suddenly was alert. A warm almost cinnamon-like scent suddenly filled his nose. ‘ _He is our mate.’_ Bada said, an incredulous tone to his voice. Donghae heard himself faintly ask, “Wait…what does that mean?”

Kangin swore, prompting Hyukjae to elbow him. “We need to do something about this!” He hissed at his fellow alpha, already noticing the glassy eyed look Kyuhyun had as he was already half standing in his spot.

Kangin swallowed, seeing the look Kyuhyun had. “Someone quickly explain to Donghae what is going on and someone else go prepare the kits.” Kangin ordered, quickly taking his place as the eldest alpha in the room now that the meeting was being put on pause for this unexpected turn of events.

Hyukjae quickly turned to Ji Yong, seeing the understanding bloom in his eyes. They needed a room, and fast. Kangin had approached Kyuhyun, taking careful steps to show he wasn’t a threat to the other shifter, even though he was the elder alpha. Any wrong move could put Donghae and the others in danger if Kyuhyun thought his mate was in any danger, and wouldn’t hesitate to turn wolf and attack anyone who he thought would hurt his mate.

Leeteuk was already over at Donghae’s side, his voice a low murmur as he kept his distance from the new shifter, another sign that they were being cautious around Kyuhyun.

“When a shifter recognizes another shifter as his or her mate, it means they are kind of like husband and wife.” Leeteuk said, keeping his hands from touching Donghae. “Does that make sense?”

Donghae swallowed, his tongue feeling thick in his mouth. Being a newlywed, he knew what it meant to be husband and wife as he’d done his duty to his wife in regards to their bedroom activities, but to do such a thing with another man? The cinnamon scent grew stronger, confusing Donghae. He nodded at Leeteuk, barely registering what the other shifter had to say. His hands clenched into fists as hot wave of something that tingled washed over his body. Donghae closed his eyes, his other senses taking in the scent of what he assumed was Kyuhyun.

“Here are the kits…oh my.” Daesung had been informed of what was going on apparently, though the obvious attraction Donghae was having towards Kyuhyun’s scent was a strong indicator of what was going on, even if Daesung didn’t fully understand how the canine shifters knew who was mate and who wasn’t. He turned to Donghae, ignoring the slight billowing of the front of Donghae’s hanbok. “Listen Donghae. When you get in the room, let him take the lead. You two may end up doing things that your teachings claim to be the mark of sin, but as a shifter, this is natural and accepted in our world. Don’t be afraid. Let things go naturally.” Daesung was glad to see that Hyukjae had grabbed the kits and followed the shadow of the other group guiding Kyuhyun carefully toward a back bedroom.

Leeteuk noticed how Donghae’s breathing had gone shallow trying to keep Kyuhyun’s scent in his memory as much as possible. “Let’s go meet your mate.”

No one had heard Donghae deny that Kyuhyun was his mate, making the reality that they were mates all the more real. Yujin had pulled out a fresh sheet of paper and had recorded every single thing said and done. No one wanted this rare moment to be lost.

Kyuhyun didn’t remember standing up, not until he realized he was standing in different room, one without Donghae’s scent. ‘ _Donghae.’_ His wolf murmured, pleased. The name fit the man so well, Kyuhyun thought in a moment of clarity. Two baskets filled with various items sat near the door, catching his eye. So even the Clan had the mate kits on hand in case of such an occasion.

A whiff of the unique smell that was Donghae grew stronger. Kyuhyun gripped his hanbok, feeling a wave of heat caress his legs, traveling up until he felt his whole body was on fire. Kibum had never told him about this part, and for that he cursed the former Pack leader. Maybe Kibum had figured with all of Kyuhyun’s wanderings to avoid responsibility that he’d had his first sexual encounter with another shifter, but couldn’t be any further from the truth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also about those Kim Heechul fan service/kisses videos......go youtube search if you don't know what I am talking about....it just proves to me now how much bias I have for him out of all of SJ though Kyuhyun definitely comes in second with being so darn adorable.....ah anyway back to studying I go! Only a few more days left before finals are over.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **WARNING** Strongly implied sexual content!
> 
> Also....almost done with finals at the university before my summer break. One more paper to finish and one more essay test on Monday rounds out my semester! When I'm not studying this past week, I've been writing, so I actually have the story almost finished (gasp!). Of course I'm already sorting out how I want to start the second story in the series....and I've been thinking about doing some little short side chapters like how Leeteuk and Hyukjae got together and stuff if people are interested :) Anyway...I hope y'all enjoy the chapter!

Kyuhyun growled as Leeteuk and Daesung guided Donghae into the room, quickly bowing to the alpha and leaving, shutting the door. Kyuhyun’s eyes drunk in the sight of his mate, following the soft curve of his neck before looking back up into Donghae’s eyes.

Donghae felt Kyuhyun’s eyes on him. He realized he didn’t even know the other shifter’s name, or what pack he was from. “My…my name is Lee Donghae.”

Kyuhyun smiled a lazy smile. “Donghae.” He saw the other shifter shiver as his name was pronounced. Donghae’s scent spiked up suddenly, the warm minty scent causing Kyuhyun to groan low in his throat. “My name is Kyuhyun.”

“Kyu.” Donghae was lost suddenly in a hot haze as Kyuhyun’s cinnamon scent intensified upon hearing him shorten the other male’s name.

Kyuhyun groaned as the nickname flowed easily through Donghae’s lips. Lips that looked plump and delicious and oh so kissable. Kyuhyun slid up close to Donghae, breathing in his scent, feeling himself becoming more enthralled with the other male. He reached out, eyes flicking up to catch the almost imperceptible nod that Donghae gave, allowing the other male to reach out and cup a hand around his cheek.

Donghae was on fire the moment Kyuhyun touched him. He definitely didn’t have this with his wife. A wife who wasn’t a shifter, which released Donghae from thinking about her again in this room. Donghae’s eyes fluttered shut as he felt Kyuhyun come closer.

The ghost of a sweet breath blew softly over Donghae’s face followed by the gentle touch of Kyuhyun’s lips on his. Fire rushed through Donghae’s body, burning hotter than before as he opened his mouth, allowing Kyuhyun better access. Any thoughts he had concerning the other male fled his mind in that moment, deciding that something that felt so good to him wasn’t a bad thing at all.

Donghae hadn’t even had time to take his gat off when things happened, but now his heightened senses heard the whisper of silk as the ribbon on his gat was undone. The gat fell to the floor as Kyuhyun pushed it off his head, allowing better access to Donghae’s lips as he brought his other hand to Donghae’s cheek and cupped his face.

Their bodies were flushed with desire and heat and whispers of encouragement from their wolves. Kyuhyun could feel the strain of Donghae’s erection against his hanbok, reminding them both that they were still fully clothed. Kyuhyun ended the kiss, reluctantly pulling away, licking his lips. “You taste sweet.” He breathed, breath hitching in his throat at the sight of Donghae’s flushed face, lips swollen from his kiss. The intensity of their mingling scents grew.

Donghae whimpered as cool air replaced the warm caress of Kyuhyun’s lips. He felt a tug at the string tying his hanbok closed. Donghae was content to let Kyuhyun lead, helping Kyuhyun push the material of the hanbok off his shoulders, exposing his undergarments. Those were next, leaving Donghae naked, his lean muscular body leaving little to the imagination.

Kyuhyun drew in a deep breath. His mate was beautiful. He felt his own erection painfully brush the cloth of his undergarments. He moved to remove his own hanbok, but found Donghae’s hands closed over his own, pushing them aside to undress him as he had done.

Donghae felt his body heat intensify the moment Kyuhyun’s lean body was exposed. He moved closer to the alpha, watching as Kyuhyun’s breathing hitched the moment Donghae traced a path from his adam’s apple down to his smooth chest. Donghae wasn’t sure what exactly to do, so he just let his body instinctively move.

His lips kissed the same path as his fingers had, nudging Kyuhyun back towards the low bed that was situated at the back of the room. The alpha’s legs hit the bed, a moan escaping his lips as Donghae pushed him down on the low bed. Kyuhyun gasped in surprise as his hips raised off the bed. He would have sworn Donghae knew exactly what he was doing as the male kissed down his body, a hand wrapped around his hardened member, squeezing it gently between his fingers. “Hae…” Kyuhyun breathed as waves of pleasure rolled over him.

Donghae felt Kyuhyun vibrate with pleasure, their scents mixing within the space of their bodies, sending Kyuhyun head long into a world of pleasure as he felt Donghae’s tongue suddenly dip into his belly button, causing the alpha to squirm.

Growling, Kyuhyun reached out and tugged on Donghae’s ears. He wants to feel the male underneath him. Donghae felt the tug on his ears and glanced up at Kyuhyun, the dark desire in his eyes taking Donghae’s breath away, allowing the alpha to sit up and effectively flip them so Donghae was now the one on the bottom, the feeling of Kyuhyun’s weight sending electric shivers up his spine.

Kyuhyun took a moment to survey the effect he was having on the other male. Eyes half lidded and his breath coming out in shallow puffs as he basked in the combining scents of their bonding. Kyuhyun felt himself harden even more. Up until now his wolf had been quiet, but suddenly he felt the animal instinct clawing to take over. As much as he wanted to slow things down and enjoy this bonding with his mate, suddenly Kyuhyun realized why most alpha’s went from unmated one day to mated the next. In a haze of desire, drunk off their mixing scents, Kyuhyun let his wolf take over, his eyes flashing a dark gold before Donghae.

It took all of Donghae’s self-control trying to stay lucid as Kyuhyun’s scent tripled in intensity. The moment he saw Kyuhyun’s eyes flashing gold, he felt his self-control slip, and his wolf took over, slipping into the haze of intense heat and desire.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am pretty much done with my finals at the university (Yay!!), with just the last few pages of a final paper to write and edit before it gets turned in before Wed. The great news is that in between studying for finals and supervising my hubby and friends at a local beer fest this weekend, I've managed to finish up this introductory story into the Supernatural temptations series, so I'm going to be posting the final 5 chapters today as a celebration. Enjoy!

Most of the shifters left the house as soon as Donghae was enclosed in the room with Kyuhyun since most of them were unmated, and the overpowering scents that the two shifters were producing making some nauseous. No one knew exactly how a bonding scent of two shifters could make some nauseous while others were affected in other ways.

Hyukjae and Leeteuk were already in the throes of their own lust, having snuck out of the main room to another side room. Hyukjae would later remember that no one had been surprised when Leeteuk had practically attached himself to the alpha, sucking a tender spot on his neck as the younger male lifted the older one easily and stumbled off into a different part of the house, both affected by the other male’s scents.

The feline shifters weren’t lucky either. Ji Yong and Yujin had practically stared at each other until Yujin surprised him by jumping in his lap and tracing light fingers around the outline of his mouth. They stayed that way, both more in control of their animal sides than Hyukjae and Leeteuk had been.

Zhou Mi had suddenly been overwhelmed with nausea, causing Daesung to rush him out of the house to avoid the scents. Daesung had never seen the older shifter become sick in the short time he’d been a guest there, and the sudden nausea had him worried.

“You’re ok.” Daesung crooned to Zhou Mi, rubbing his back as the other male dry heaved, having thrown up most of what he’d eaten already that day.

Zhou Mi shook his head, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. No matter who it was or how many times Zhou Mi was exposed to the scent of two mates bonding, he would get sick. He wondered if he would be like this with his own bonding with his mate, wherever that person was.

**

With the sudden change in plans, Kangin decided to send one of his runners off to the gisaeng house to assess any changes in their situation. Krystal had sent word the day after Donghae’s wedding that a new girl had arrived from the coast, claiming that House Master Howie had bought her through an independent contractor.

Howie, known for keeping his records neat and clean, had a transaction for which he was fuzzy on how it had come about. It was for a hefty sum too, which further confused the man, which didn’t settle well with Kangin.

Add the whole mess of the sudden mating that Kyuhyun and Donghae were, presumably, in the middle of, and Kangin would have sworn that there was a magical force playing a hand in the events that were keeping him on his toes.

Once Hyukjae and Leeteuk were done satisfying their own lust, Kangin smiled, amused as Hyukjae realized that the fact he and Leeteuk were mates was not lost on the other alpha. He pulled Hyukjae aside, ignoring the embarrassment the younger alpha was radiating. “So, it’s obvious that Kyuhyun was not informed of everything that comes with being an alpha.” Kangin hated this, hated the part that made him a Pack alpha.

Hyukjae nodded, his mind clear from the lust and sexual frustrations of other shifters. “I agree.” He said, frowning. “I think Kyuhyun was going to say something to us before Donghae walked in and chaos erupted.” He said. “Do you think he realizes he’s not ready for being an alpha of a pack?”

Kangin nodded, eyes thoughtful as he pursed his lips. “I don’t like how events keep happening like this.” He said. “I don’t like having to be the bad alpha and demand Kyuhyun give up his pack to us, but from the lack of training and finding his mate, I hope Kyuhyun will be smart enough to let go.”

Hyukjae knew what Kangin was talking about. Having to play the bad guy in his own pack far more often than he wanted, Hyukjae didn’t envy the older alpha as Kangin would probably be the one to have to talk Kyuhyun into giving up his alpha status.

Several hours later, Kyuhyun emerged from the room, straightening his hanbok as much as he could considering it had lay in a heap in the room and was made of a soft material that wrinkled easily. Donghae emerged after the alpha, his own hanbok wrinkled from the time on the floor.

Donghae would have a lot to learn about his new mate, not including the fact that he had a lot of pack codes to memorize as well. The scents in the house had died down considerably, making it more comfortable for the other shifters to start gathering again to resume their meeting.

The first thing on Kyuhyun’s mind, Donghae nestled firmly next to him after everyone had returned, was that he was going to announce his intention to dissolve his Pack back to the other two. “Before we start, I want to…I want to apologize.” Kyuhyun said, eyes downcast in front of the other leaders. “I was not trained voluntarily by Kibum to be a Pack leader, and with the unexpected finding of my mate, I,” Kyuhyun cleared his throat, knowing some of his Pack would not be happy with his decision. “I wish to dissolve my pack.”

Kangin grunted, surprised. Hyukjae had been right after all. He was glad he wouldn’t have to play the bad guy here. Kangin looked at Hyukjae and nodded in agreement with the other alpha. They both stood, moving to stand in front of Kyuhyun as the other male fell to his knees. It was only right he showed submission to the other two Pack leaders. “We accept your decision, Cho Kyuhyun.” Kangin said, his wolf’s presence was heard in his voice.

Hyukjae took a breath. “We formally dissolve Pack Cho.” He said, hating how formal the whole ritual was. “Once this meeting is over, you will inform all of your pack mates to meet us at the conclave house to determine who goes into Pack Lee and Pack Kim.”

Kyuhyun nodded. “I accept your dominance over me and my pack mates.”

Kangin nodded in acceptance. Kyuhyun lay down on the floor, his act of submission bringing tears to Leeteuk’s eyes. The second had never imagined that Kyuhyun would do such an act, but he was grateful it had been done. Hyukjae accepted the former alpha’s submission to him, trailing a finger down his throat before Kangin did the same.

Donghae watched with wide eyes, seeing a new side to the shifters. He really had a lot to learn about how the Packs operated as he watched Kangin and Hyukjae both helping Kyuhyun up from his submissive position, both murmuring what a good wolf the younger man was before tucking him back into his spot next to Donghae, smiling as Kyuhyun snuggled into the warm comfort of his mate.


	16. Chapter 16

Krystal blew out a breath of frustration. This new girl that Howie wasn’t sure he’d actually bought, the whole transaction was seeped in confusion and murky at best, was standing in the training room, arms crossed, and a defiant look in her eyes.

“I’m telling you right now, we are not allowed access to the Palace.” Krystal said. Victoria was sitting with her, having been summoned to help coax the new girl into thinking the idea of a celebration for the King and Queen would NOT be helpful in easing the tensions that seemed to surround the city, never mind the fact that the gisaengs hadn’t been allowed in the Palace for 2 generations of Kings now, all because of a scandal involving one of the gisaengs with the Crown Prince of the time.

Krystal could feel a massive headache coming on, and had already sent for the herbs needed to help keep the ache at bay. They were due to host the last of the celebrations for the new girl that night.

“Excuse me, Mistress.” Jooyeon had been properly punished for what had happened with Lee Donghae, her status as a gisaeng temporarily removed, making her the House Mother’s servant for 6 months. “A runner is here from the Kim clan.”

Jooyeon had ended up learning about the existence of shifters because of her punishment, though a part of her had not been surprised in the least, allowing Krystal a sigh of relief that the older girl had taken the news well. Since being sworn to secrecy, Jooyeon found it easier to tell the slight lies that rolled off her tongue whenever a member of the Packs or Clan came to the House.

Krystal raised an eyebrow. “Send him in.” She said, glancing at Victoria, who nodded.

Victoria took the new girl by the hand, her name was Min Yeon or Min Hee or something like that, and gently tugged her outside so that Krystal could conduct Pack business in privacy. They still weren’t sure if the girl was a shifter or not, Victoria’s senses saying she wasn’t but V insisted there was something off about the girl, and for that reason they were cautious. The last thing the shifters needed after Donghae’s attack was for their secret to be exposed because of carelessness.

The girl sniffed in frustration, yanking her arm out of Victoria’s grip once they passed the doors of the training room. “You all will regret trying to keep this celebration from happening.” The girl huffed.

Victoria used all of her self-control not to slap the girl in frustration. She did not answer the girl, her sensitive sharp hearing catching the conversation inside. The Pack runner wanted her to hear the conversation, which was a good thing.

Once the runner had concluded his business, and left, the herb order Krystal had placed finally came. She and Victoria resumed their attempts to dissuade the girl, finally giving up in frustration hours later, realizing that the only way she would be stopped from such nonsense was either Howie telling her no, which Krystal knew instinctively he would, or the Palace laughing in her face.

A week later, and the new girl had disappeared right under the watchful eyes of the two young gisaengs in training that Krystal had placed with the girl. The whole gisaeng house was in an uproar, though later on, no one could really remember why and chalked it up to some childish prank a gisaeng in training must have pulled on another girl.

Victoria had sent word to Ji Yong about the girl, V smirking in satisfaction that her instinct had been correct, but it was hard to gloat over the fact the girl must have been magical when no one else could remember the girl being there.

Ji Yong had replied with an oddly worded missive about the mountains that confused Victoria until a warning drum sounded in the distance. At first Victoria though it was the Japanese, coming to force the Joseon King to submit to their authority, word had already been circulated around the gisaeng houses that the Japanese were planning on taking over the kingdom, but the news was worse than she though.


	17. Chapter 17

“The Queen is dead?” The words were repeated countlessly in dozens of homes. No one knew for sure what had happened, only that one day the Queen was fine, and the next, she’d been found in a pool of her own blood, several stab wounds puncturing her back.

Victoria knew at that moment she was doomed.  The Pack runner had shown up the day before, telling her that the Packs and Clans were retreating to a hideout far in the mountains due to the threat of the Japanese. Because she was a gisaeng, she couldn’t just pack up and leave like the others of the Clan could. Gisaengs were technically property of the House owner, even though she knew Howie didn’t view any of the girls in the house as property. She wondered if they had already left, until Yesung strolled into the gisaeng house. Victoria latched on to the shifter, grateful to see the clothing merchant after hardly any contact with the Clan even though he was Pack. “What’s going on?” Victoria asked him as she led him to one of the areas reserved for special guests of the House.

Yesung sighed, not sure how he was going to tell her. ‘ _Just do it and get it over with.’_ His wolf snarled, already pissed. “First, I’m going to hate myself, but something strong would really be great.” He said, the ghost of his wolf’s presence in his voice.

Victoria nodded, going outside the room they were in, telling the servant there that Yesung wanted the regular drink, not the special drink they usually served him. While Victoria knew that Yesung hated alcohol, loathed it actually, something really bad must have happened to piss him off enough to drink.

Once the new brew had been brought, Victoria poured him a cup, waiting patiently as he downed it, poured another cup and downed that one as well. The regular alcohol was slowly easing the hurt inside him. Yesung knew Victoria had questions, but wisely had kept quiet. His wolf sleepily mumbling his happiness at the feline shifter for being such a good cat.

“Something happened this week while the Clan was packing up to head to the hideout.” Yesung closed his eyes in pain at the memories that threatened to overwhelm him.

Victoria stilled, her breathing shallow while her heart speed up. This was not good news. “Who’s left?” She whispered, her eyes shut tight as if she could block out the pain that way.

Yesung took a deep breath, steeling himself for the effects of the blow Victoria was about to receive. “Seungri, Zhou Mi, and Yujin.” He clenched his hands in an effort to keep himself calm. “Daesung was seriously injured, but still lives.”

Victoria did what any other person normally does when presented with the sudden unexplainable death of people they know. She poured her own cup of the regular alcohol and downed it. “Who? How?” She whispered, tears spilling down her face after she’d downed the second cup.

Yesung shook his head, his face in pain. Shifters were used to death since they tended to live much longer than the average human. The fact that Victoria didn't know about the decmination of her Clan only solidfied the fact that she was very much isolated from other shifters because she was a gisaeng. Yesung made a mental note to check in on her more often. It was also obvious that feline shifter clans operated differently than the Packs with their connections.

They sat in silence for awhile while Victoria gained control over herself. It would be hard for the Clan to continue since Ji Yong was dead. An alpha was an alpha, no matter if they were feline or canine. Victoria mumbled something that Yesung couldn't quite hear. "What did you ask?" He asked her, hoping by this time that both their animals were well asleep because of the alcohol.

"Did they die with honor?" She asked, the pain still clear in her voice.

Yesung swallowed. He'd been the one to find the destruction along with Heechul, who was with the Packs at the moment, cleaning up the Clan grounds and taking care of Daesung. "Yes." He said. "Daesung was the one who told us what happened." He said. "Heechul has him at the Pack house to protect him from whatever attacked at the Clan houses.”

Victoria slammed a hand down on the floor suddenly, her scent betraying her anger and sorrow. “Do you seriously think that we were weak?” She said, eyes red with grief and anger. “It’s obvious that whatever attacked the Clan could probably do the same to the Packs!”

Yesung growled at her, his wolf not completely sedated by the alcohol. “You don’t think we don’t know that?” He grabbed a hold of her arms, pulling her in front of him. It was rare Yesung let himself show anger, but right now he needed to get some sense into the girl’s head.

Victoria held herself stiffly, realizing he was pissed. Yesung’s wolf was way more dominate that Victoria’s feline. She’d never seen him get angry before, but judging from the trembling of his fingers, it wasn’t very often, and the pain and sorrow of losing people who were not of his Pack, shocked Victoria. Her anger melted just as quickly as it had come on, whimpering in pain as she felt Yesung’s fingers digging into her arms. “I’m sorry.” She whimpered, tears once again overflowing down her cheeks.

They were both on edge, Yesung realized. Not even the regular alcohol could dull that. He softened his fingers, intending to let her go only to feel his wolf wanting some comfort from another shifter, even if she was a feline. Instead he pulled Victoria to him, enfolding her tiny frame within his arms, gently hugging her, all of his anger gone.

“Shhh, little feline.” He crooned, feeling her body going limp in his arms. If Daesung made it through the night, he’d be able to tell Victoria what happened. As it was, Heechul hadn’t been too sure that the feline would make it when Yesung left to check on the gisaeng.

Victoria sobbed quietly into his shoulder, her tears soaking his hanbok as she gripped the material tightly in her fists.

Yesung wasn’t sure how long they stayed like that, his legs slowly falling asleep from the inactivity. The last thing he remembered was that the alcohol suddenly hit his system in a delayed reaction the moment he realized Victoria had fallen into a grief laden sleep.

The morning after, however, was something Yesung never wanted to experience ever again for the rest of his life.


	18. Chapter 18

The mysterious girl who’d appeared and then disappeared from the gisaeng house was no ordinary girl, as Victoria’s feline had guessed. She reappeared inside the palace, somehow managing to bewitch the Office of Palace Maids, landing herself a job as one of the cleaning maids for the Queen’s quarters. Just like with Master Howie, no one knew where she’d come from, or how long she’d actually been there, and just as quickly forgot she was even around.

The girl smirked, her magic working better than ever since she’d managed to get a hold of some blood with magical properties in it. She could still hear the echoes of those human cats screams as she’d forced them down on their knees with her fairy magic, slicing open their necks and laughing manically as their life blood drained out of their bodies into special flasks made for such a liquid. Shifters were notorious for hating anything magical, denying their own magical properties because they could shift between the human form and the animal form.

Now all she’d needed was the blood of a royal woman who’d never given birth to a child and she’d waited long for the right woman to show up since she’d botched the last time she’d tried this spell. The day she’d attacked the Clan, she’d already used her magic to keep the palace servants sleeping in the Queen’s quarters. She’d made it as painless as possible, not being completely evil like some of her fairy counterparts, though she did enjoy the way the Queen struggled in her magic induced sleep to get away from the stab wounds inflicted on her body in various regions.

Since the human witches had been caught, tried and executed for crimes against the crown, the girl had to find others close to the capital in order for the spell to be performed. She was tired of living in the shadows and was hell bent on making the whole world magical.

The last ingredient for the spell, she waited until the new witches were ensconced in the beginning of the ritual to invoke the spell. This last ingredient had to be as fresh as possible, otherwise it would completely backfire.

Satisfied that the witches were doing well, the fairy girl scanned the capital city, searching for just the right heart to be plucked out of a young woman’s chest. She scanned twice before the twinkle of the right girl caught her eyes. “Ah-ha.” She murmured to herself, just a bit insane in the head, otherwise she wouldn’t have dared with this spell. She slipped down into the gisaeng house, realizing with a start that she’d completely missed the fact that the girl she was about to kill had been the one who’d been suspicious of her in the first place.

‘ _I should torture her in return for the suspicion.’_ The fairy thought, her magic cloaking her sounds from the others in the house. She slipped passed the doors to the room where Victoria was sleeping soundly across the chest of Yesung, who had, in his sleep, wrapped his arms around the younger shifter and snuggled her close.

The fairy paused. So the young cat was half in love with the wolf. The evil part of her magic boiled in anticipation of what she would be doing to the girl. Should she wake the wolf up and give him a show of what she could do to his kind while she slowly cut the heart out of his companion?

_‘Yes…you should make him fear our kind.’_ That evil voice, or at least the voice manifestation of the evil that tainted her blood called to her. Shuddering as the evil taint awoke her senses even more, she quietly barricaded the room to prevent noise from escaping. She could feel the witches getting closer to the final invocation of the spell, meaning she needed to hurry. Well the wolf could wake up to the bloody corpse of his gisaeng with a gaping hole in her chest for all the fairy cared.

She slipped Victoria out from under Yesung’s arms, her blade out and the container needed for the heart of the gisaeng ready. She shivered, wondering suddenly if the distance between herself and the witches was too great for her to get accurate updates on the invocation of the spell. She plunged the knife into the gisaeng, not bothering to keep the girl asleep. The paralysis from the poison on the blade worked quickly as the fairy cut.

Victoria awoke to an icy jolt of pain that bloomed in her chest. V was still under the effects of the alcohol she’d consumed, sound asleep in her sanctuary as pain filtered through the sleep, growing more intense. She managed to get her eyes open when she realized that she couldn’t move, and that the girl who’d gone missing the week before was kneeling over her, blood spurting around the knife she had plunged into Victoria’s chest.

‘ _Yesung!’_ Victoria screamed in her mind, unable to move her mouth to scream in terror.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I want him to hear you scream.” The girl grinned, the smell of evil and Victoria’s blood permeating the air as she raised a finger and wiped it across Victoria’s lips.

Victoria took a shuddering breath, feeling the loss of blood becoming greater. “HELP!” She screamed as loud as she could.

Yesung jerked awake, his breathing harsh and fast as the scream pierced through his alcohol induced slumber. “Vic, what?” He groaned as the headache started. He tried to sit up and found himself slammed against a wall, the breath knocked out of him.

“OH gods, VICTORIA!” He struggled against the invisible bonds that held him to the wall as he watched the girl straddling Victoria’s body with a knife deeply embedded in her chest. He watched helplessly as the girl continued to cut into Victoria, the gisaeng’s screams becoming weaker.

Yesung growled, his wolf shocked awake at the scent of blood in the air, “ _Who are you and why are you killing her!_ ” His wolf was clear in his voice as he roared at the girl.

“Because I need the fresh heart of a girl who’s in love.” The girl replied, the evil grin plastered on her face, eyes growing more wild as she continued to cut away at Victoria’s chest. “And oh, my she’s so in love with you young wolf!”

Yesung struggled again trying to find the thin spot in the magic bonds that held him. Why hadn’t anyone come and sounded the alert that an intruder was in the house? “What are you talking about?” He asked, desperate to keep the insane girl talking while he tried to find a weak spot.

Victoria’s body spasmed as the blood loss quickened. The girl cooed as she snapped the last rib that kept her from Victoria’s heart. Victoria gasped, blood bubbling out of her mouth as she fought to turn her head to look at Yesung. “Oh alright, you can see the ugly wolf before you die.” The girl waved a hand.

Yesung’s eyes connected with Victoria’s. Her eyes were full of pain, fear and something else Yesung couldn’t identify. She mouthed something at him, her voice gone from screaming. Yesung cried out, tears falling from his eyes as he saw she was almost gone. His wolf was trying to get a hold of her feline, but either the magic that kept Yesung in place was blocking their communication, or the feline half of Victoria was already gone.

“NO!” Yesung screamed, “NO! Victoria!”

The girl pulled Victoria’s heart from her chest, veins and arteries snapping from the force of the pull as the light died in Victoria’s eyes. “Oh, there there.” The girl said, laughter and evil tinged in her voice, blood pooling around Victoria’s body as the last of it pumped out of the hole where her heart used to be. “Your sacrifice will not be in vein.” She giggled, obviously amused at her own gruesome joke.

Yesung, shocked at the gory murder in front of him, stunned at the loss of Victoria, whom he’d grown affectionate towards only stared as the girl stood, wiping the knife off on Victoria’s soiled hanbok, blood dripping off the girl’s hands as she picked up a container that held Victoria’s heart. “Well, now that I have what I needed, see ya!” The girl laughed, the sheer insanity of it rolling over Yesung and making his wolf howl.

She disappeared from his vision, the invisible bonds suddenly gone. “OH gods no!” Yesung sobbed, not caring about anything or anybody as he attempted to crawl to Victoria’s lifeless body, his own body spent from struggling against magic.

The horrified looks on the servants as they burst in upon hearing his sorrow filled cry only confirmed that they’d been blocked from hearing Victoria’s gruesome murder. Time seemed to slow for him as guards suddenly burst into the room, not caring, nor noticing that Yesung had no blood on his clothes or a weapon as they seized him.


	19. Chapter 19

The girl arrived back in the house where the witches were still chanting. Her skin grew clammy as she suddenly realized something unseen had distorted time between when she’d left the house and arrived. “NO!” The fairy screamed in frustration, feeling the blast of the spell gone wrong as it slammed into her body, disintegrating her and the box that held the gisaeng’s heart.

The outward blast of the backfire of the spell spread across the area encompassing Hanyang. In the midst of the grief for the Queen, and the preparations for the Japanese invasion, as the king could only assume that the Japanese had killed his wife, the pained, panicked howls of wolves in the forest that surrounded parts of the city walls suddenly vanished from hearing.

The gisaeng house was shut down pending an investigation of a dead gisaeng whose heart had been cut out of her body, but no evidence or other leads could give away the culprit who’d vanished into thin air the moment the wolves stopped howling in the forest. The guards didn’t even recall Yesung being in the room, only concerned with the fact that a gory murder had happened right under the servant’s noses and none of them had heard a thing.

In the course of the Japanese invasion and subsequent takeover of Joseon, renaming the country Korea, many places were burned in an effort to bend the will of the old Joseon people to their new leaders. Records were burned in the magistrates houses while the magistrates themselves were executed for resisting the Japanese Emperor’s authority. Ministers and other high ranking officials in the Joseon court were stripped of their titles, lands and money, some sent to exile on the island named Jeju, while others were forced into slavery for the Japanese.

No one knew what had happened to Minister Lee’s son Donghae, not even the younger’s newlywed wife Sulli, only that he’d gone out for a walk the night the howling stopped and had vanished along with Seungri. Sulli's own maid had vanished as well, and Sulli was unfortunately, and quite unwillingly married off to some high ranking Japanese officer.

Life eventually went on for the people of Joseon, dealing with the oppression of the Japanese and eventually winning their freedom from the Japanese rule, and becoming a very independent country.

Years passed, bonds formed and broken, people living and dying. And then a girl was born in the year 1981, born knowing that a terrible purpose had been bestowed on her by her grandmother Park Jiyoung, a woman so old that any amount of wind could bowl her fragile frame over, and break something.

Jiyoung smiled as her granddaughter was born, a spitting image of herself and named her Park Ha Rae. This girl was special, born into the small pack that remained after the sudden disappearance of the Packs in Hanyang. Even she did not know what had happened that night so long ago.

Jiyoung did not live to see the terrible purpose that her granddaughter has inherited, passing away unexpectedly when Ha Rae turned 13. By this time the Pack had grown a bit again, expanding their territory out further under the cautious guidance of Jiyoung’s son and daughter in law who were the alpha and second of the Pack.

It was in the year 2012, a number of years after Jiyoung had passed that Ha Rae’s terrible purpose materialized out of thin air in their country home just outside of Seoul where her grandmother had set up a residence in the hopes that members of the old Packs Lee or Kim showed up though Ha Rae’s parents has scoffed at the idea, and had been contemplating selling the place since they were happy with their current property in Busan when Ha Rae announced she wanted to move into the home that reminded her deeply of Jiyoung.

Ha Rae was in the older home, putting the final touches on a painting when she heard an unnatural crash in the back yard and a whole lot of swearing. ‘ _There are 12 shifters outside.’_ Her wolf, Mihue, said, sounding oddly smug in her assessment of the invasion of a whole bunch of scents she’d never smelled before.

‘ _Well duh.’_ Ha Rae retorted back to her shifter, rolling her eyes. ‘ _I think today is the day that my purpose arrives.’_

Ha Rae had never told her parents or her grandmother that she knew where the old Pack members had disappeared. Somehow, some way a bit of the old fairy magic had been floating around the Pack den on the day she’d been born, and had fused itself within her, becoming part of her wolf and herself. 


	20. Chapter 20

Ha Rae stood unhurriedly, knowing somehow that these shifters would not take lightly to an unfamiliar wolf hurrying outside to check on the noises they made when they crashed onto the old large outdoor table for big family gatherings in the back. She cocked her head as she heard the same language her grandmother had taught to her, the excuse being that the old Joseon language shouldn’t die. Ha Rae slipped out the back door and felt her jaw drop as the group of shifters were all wearing formal hanboks and staring around in amazement at their surroundings. She cleared her throat even though she knew her scent would give herself away to the new group.

It seemed that they were more level headed in Joseon than her grandmother had claimed as one of the males looked over Ha Rae and nodded. “Do you speak Korean?” He asked in the old language, his voice smooth and soft.

“Yes, I speak the old language.” Ha Rae answered, bowing to the group as one by one they all turned to stare at her. “You must be the missing Pack’s Lee and Kim.”

A throat cleared and 2 males and a female separated themselves from the others. “We are feline shifters, not canine.” The tall male said with an unassuming smile.

Ha Rae felt her jaw drop even lower. ‘ _Feline shifters??!’_ She thought to her wolf. ‘ _Did grandmother ever mention them?’_ She polled Mihue.

‘ _I don’t recall her mentioning cats.’_ Mihue said, her attention sparked by the impossibly rare find. ‘ _I’m smelling something…..’_ Her wolf stopped, either unaware she hadn’t finished the thought or was processing something.

“Um, oh. That’s strange.” Ha Rae said, taking caution to not move too quickly as she stepped closer to the group. “Grandmother never mentioned feline shifters.”

The first man, obviously a wolf cleared his throat. “Who is your grandmother?” He asked, sounding like he wanted to ask something else.

“She was Park Jiyoung.” Ha Rae said, realizing that they couldn’t smell her grandmother’s scent around the house. It’d been too long since she’d lived.

A startled gasp issued from one of the other wolves, his light brown eyes narrowing at her. “Who’s your alpha?” He demanded, pushing down the hand that tried to force him back behind the first wolf.

“My father, Park Ji Young.” Ha Rae replied. “I can call him here if you need to speak with him?”

“Eventually we will have to.” The first one admitted, raising his hand to hush the questions that Ha Rae heard from the others. “My name is Kangin, and as the elder alpha, I ask for refuge for my pack mates and for the Clan.”

TO BE CONTINUED….

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah...a bit anticlimactic for the last few chapters of it. I had originally intended for the Joseon period of the story to only last a few chapters, and really not flesh anything major out but the way the initial work read was really choppy and a bit confusing so I had to expand it, and thus the series was born. I'm currently working on the next story in the series, but haven't fleshed out a good summary or title for the work yet, but expect to see the first chapter of that story up sometime this next week.


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